The Untraveled Road
by PoppyGrl
Summary: SiriusOC. A Healer at St. Mungo's gets more than she bargains for when she agrees to help Sirius and the Order...but what secrets might she and Dumbledore be hiding? Set after OOTP, AU.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fan fiction. I hope you all like it. It's just a story I wrote to satisfy some "what ifs" I was left with after Order of the Phoenix. To me, Sirius has always been one of the most tragic characters in the books. His was a life that held so much potential yet he never really got to show us what he was made of. I think he and Harry both deserved so much more. To right the injustice of it, I created this story!

The main character is an original of mine. I tried not to make her too Mary-Sue-ish, but at the same time, I of course want to make her special for Sirius! This is meant to be a SiriusOC romance story, but all our favorites will make an appearance, and some action/mystery will be thrown in as well. The story starts at about the same time as Harry and Co. are causing trouble at the Department of Mysteries, at the end of Order of the Phoenix. Instead of opening a port back to Hogwart's though, Dumbledore opens a port to St. Mungo's. From there, events branch off from canon into my own AU world. I hope you like!

**_Disclaimer_**: I do not own any of these characters or the world in which they live. I intend no infringement upon J.K. Rowling's rights at all. I only ask that she let me borrow her creations for a little while. I promise to put everything back the way I found it!

Chapter 1

Cyril Lynch and his wife, Mona, were having a glass of tea in the tearoom of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. They had rushed their young daughter in that night because she had accidentally used her Crazy Carmine's Consumables At Home Food and Drink Wizard to concoct what wound up being a potent version of a Shrinking Potion. The picture card of Carmine that came with the set usually spouted off instructions for brewing at home versions of pumpkin juice or butterbeer. However, when Mr. Lynch had accidentally dripped some of his firewhiskey on the card, Carmine had become drunk and confused and gave the little girl the wrong instructions.

The authorities had soon confirmed, after a strange conversation with Carmine, that the child had not been kidnapped, as her parents had feared when they couldn't find her, but had instead been shrunk to the size of a shirt button. Worse still was the fact that the child had in fact been partially sown onto her father's shirt cuff before her mother had realized what she was doing. With the shirt in tow, they had rushed to St. Mungo's.

The little girl, Lani, had first been shuffled to every floor in the hospital as they tried to remove her from the shirt cuff. Finally, an assistant from Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions was sent in to perform a very handy charm on the shirt, sure to remove the button without further damaging the girl. The charm worked, but interestingly also wound up loosening the buttons on every shirt in the room.

After the little girl was removed from the shirt, she was brought to the Iris Blickenstaff ward on the third floor. The Healer in charge of this ward, where all the most serious potion and plant poisonings were handled, brewed up an antidote that kept the girl from shrinking further. It was administered first by dropping Lani into a cup with a small amount of the antidote and letting her swim around awhile. She was growing back to normal size slowly, and was finally big enough to take small sips of the antidote. Her parent's had stepped out for some tea on the fifth floor while the Healers continued their work, somewhat placated that there daughter would soon recover.

Cyril and Mona were just finishing up their tea, when the healer in charge of their daughter, Gemma Peacecraft, came into the tearoom and sat down with them. They could see where traces of the antidote's ingredients were smeared on the front of her lime-green robes. There were also a few smudges on the green healer's hat she wore.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lynch, I just wanted to let you both know that Lani is doing very well now. We'd like to keep her here overnight to monitor her regrowth."

"Why?" Mona asked, startled. "Is there a problem with her re-growing?"

Gemma smiled gently. "No, no, Mrs. Lynch. I assure you everything is going smoothly. It's just that as she continues to grow back to her normal size, it will become increasingly more painful. That is an unfortunate side effect of the Enlargement Potion. It feels not unlike having taken some Skele-gro, and we all know that regrowning bones is a nasty business." The three of them nodded in agreement. "We of course, also want to monitor that she does not grow too large. Just last summer some healers here had a terrible time trying to get a young man back to his normal size. He kept going between 9 inches and 15 feet. It terrible! The poor child never did reach normal size again. He stayed nearly 9 feet tall. Most think he's part giant now."

Mrs. Lynch gasped, "You don't think that will happen to my Lani?"

"Of course not! Lani is responding beautifully to treatment. I've no doubt she'll be back to normal in no time." Gemma gave them one of her most dazzling smiles. The Lynch's were immediately calmed and all fears were gone.

Gemma was in fact, one St. Mungo's most popular Healers; she had a reputation for being one of the cleverest, most competent Healers they had. While she was not a dazzling beauty by conventional standards, she seemed to radiate kindness, gentleness, warmth and compassion. Her manner was soothing to patients and family alike. She also had a confidence and infectious hope for good results. And, she was of course, a magnificent Healer. She had always been a good student during her time at Hogwarts, and with years of practice under her belt, there was nearly nothing she couldn't heal. She had chosen to work on the third floor merely because making potions and antidotes had always been her best subject and most fun for her. However, whenever the other floors were getting too busy, or if there was a particularly rough case, Gemma would always pitch in to do her best to help where she could. Of course, there were some things that nothing could heal, but Gemma was determined to always try her best and give her all.

Years of being teased for her appearance had made her struggle harder than the other Healers when trying to return her patients to normal because Gemma knew how painful it could be to not be able to turn back to "normal." While presently her appearance just made everyone give her a second look, or to stare a bit longer than is polite, in school the teasing had been merciless.

While she wasn't what anyone would call gorgeous, she was pleasantly good looking. There was nothing extraordinary in her facial features. She wasn't ugly by far, just average looking. Due to certain events, however, her eyes had turned an alarming shade of purple, and her hair had been turned stark white. The contrast was of course made even more startling because her skin was a rich tan color, making the purple and white even more pronounced. She also had a huge scar that ran the length of the left side of her neck, down to her collar bone and onto her chest, and so she tried to always wear turtlenecks or scarves to hide it. As part of her healer garb, she always wore a green hat with the St. Mungo's emblem, a wand crossed with a bone, to hide the majority of her hair.

Gemma had long since come to terms with looking somewhat odd, and so nowadays she just focused on what she felt she was meant to do: healing. And in her mind, it was not just her job to heal the bodies of her patients, but also their minds and hearts if they needed it. She knew from experience that even a healed body could not fully recover if the heart was not in it as well.

It was because of this mostly that Gemma was popular. She loved to talk with patients and families, and was known as a great story-teller, having been at St. Mungo's for some time and seeing all kinds of things. She was a bit fanciful sometimes, and could appear somewhat bubbled headed upon first meeting, but it was more her good nature that made her seem so: she was actually quite clever and could be cross when need be.

Gemma chatted lightly with the Lynch's in her signature manner, easing them out of their worry. She entertained them with a story about an older man she had seen earlier that day who had an argument with his wife that he apparently lost. He had come in with his hand permanently washing dishes. His wife's charm to get him to help out had backfired somehow and they just could not stop him from washing everything in sight.

Gemma was about to take her leave of the Lynch's to go check on Lani's progress, when another Healer rushed in, his lime-green robes madly ruffled.

"Gemma! We need you right away! You will not believe what has happened!"

Gemma shot to her feet, and let herself be lead away by the Healer. "What's wrong, Milo?" she asked, panic in her voice. Did something happen to make Lani too big or small after she had just promised her parents nothing like that would happen? She had brewed the antidote herself, she was sure it would work.

Milo led her down one flight of stairs and stopped at the doorway to the fourth floor and motioned to her to go in. "I've got to get the rest. Gemma, go straight to the Derry Dorian ward, see if you can help at all." The Healer dropped his eyes. "It's Death Eaters. They are back….He is back," and he ran away, presumably to search for more Healers.

Gemma stood motionless in her spot, trying to compose herself. Millions of thoughts seemed to be flying through her head, making it difficult for her to concentrate on normal things, like walking, or breathing. Could it be possible? She had been reading _The Prophet_, she had heard rumors. But the Ministry had ensured everyone that the rumors were only just that, rumor. Would they have let You-Know-Who come back without warning anyone? It just wasn't possible. Maybe his Death Eaters had decided to cause trouble again without him? Or maybe it was all just a mistake. Some crazy people pretending they were Death Eaters. _Yes_, Gemma told herself. That was all. It was just a misunderstanding, or a joke gone horribly wrong.

Sure that she had figured it out and that her world had not been changed in the slightest, she hurried down the many hallways of the Spell Damage floor to the Derry Dorian ward. Whatever had happened though was bad if they had taken the injured to the Dorian ward. The ward was reserved for wounds obtained from the darkest of magic. But no matter, it couldn't possibly be what she was thinking, what Milo had said. She would just go and take a peek to see if she could help, but they wouldn't need her.

The halls were unusually empty. Gemma wondered where all the other Healers were. While it was night and there were less Healers on duty than normal, Milo had made it seem like the halls would be running full of people. If it were Death Eaters, surely everyone in the place would be screaming by now. Yes, she was becoming even more sure that Milo had been exaggerating. Or, perhaps, whatever happened had not reached the others yet…or somehow they wanted it all kept secret.

Gemma had turned a corner to get to the ward, dreading the time when she would finally reach the doors, when from seemingly no where behind her, a teenage girl with a mane of long, red hair staggered past her. She was clutching something in her hand, and was limping, barely able to walk. She was trying her hardest to move forward as fast as she could.

Gemma reached out and gently laid her hand on the girl's arm. "You are hurt! Stop here for a moment and let me look at it please." Gemma glanced down at the girl's injured leg, trying to see what the damage might be. The girl just shrugged off Gemma's hand and continued on.

"I'm a healer. I can help if you'll let me look." But the girl didn't seem to be listening; she had a look of cold determination on her face. Gemma followed helplessly behind her, afraid to be too rough with her so as to not hurt her more.

The girl looked like she had been through a lot. Her ankle was a deep, deep purple where Gemma could see it, and there were minor cuts all over her skin and blood all over her clothes. Gemma couldn't image what the girl had been doing to get injured like that. She had seen witches and wizards who dueled look like this, but the red headed girl did look to be a bit too young for that. Was this possibly a huge, illegal, underground wizarding dueling contest that had gone wrong?

Gemma looked the girl up and down, making a mental note of all the injuries she could have and which ones to check for once they both stopped. Gemma wondered if the girl might be looking for a bed in the spell damage ward, maybe not wanting anyone to know she was there so she wouldn't get in trouble. Gemma looked up briefly from her analysis of the young girl as they neared the purple double doors of the ward as hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking and was about to run into a wall.

Gemma stopped in her tracks a moment because when her eyes darted from the door to the ward and the wall she nearly ran into, she though she caught a glimpse of the very same girl as was walking beside her. This second girl burst from inside the ward, fumbling with something around her neck. When Gemma looked again though, the double was gone.

"Did you…" Gemma started to ask, incredulously.

"I didn't see anything," the red-headed girl said too quickly. Gemma stopped for a moment, convinced that she had seen something, just not sure what.

Suddenly, behind her, came a mad rush of Healers as nearly every Healer in the hospital hurried toward the ward. Gemma took one last glance at the girl next to her before joining the other Healers. She had a sinking feeling that none of this could be good and that once she walked into the Dorian ward, nothing would be the same again. The red-head also rushed into the ward, her eyes growing wide, taking in the scene.

Gemma eyes darted around the ward, taking a healer's quick glance to assess damage. The ward was empty save for the middle, where it seemed a small crowd had formed. They were the most motley crew she had seen in awhile. Five of them looked about as bad as you could imagine. Scrapes, cuts, torn clothes, and strange, other marks covered them all. It looked as if they had been in a huge duel and had all lost horribly. Her suggestion of a secret dueling league seemed to be the right idea for there could be no other explanation for attacks like that. Gemma also noticed five teenages in the room as well, looking just as poorly as if they too had been allowed to fight in these duels. Her eyes widened slightly as she recognized Neville Longbottom in the group, though she did not know any of the others. On the floor, around them all was a man in robes. The entire group, though some looked to weary or hurt to be standing for long, were all staring at him with concern in their faces.

Several of the healers rushed forward and tried to usher each to a bed in the ward, although none seemed to be willing to move from the center of the room, where one of the teenagers was kneeling next to the man on the floor, staring intently at him. The boy seemed to be crying as he held the man's hand.

Gemma heard the red headed girl cry out, "No! It didn't work!" Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she clutched her clenched fist to her chest. "It didn't work, and I just made things ten times worse."

Gemma walked over and put her arm around her. "What dear? What didn't work? Do you know what happened here?"

The girl raised her eyes to Gemma. "I just tried to save him…I didn't think…I didn't know…I…I…What have I done?" The girl couldn't finish. Gemma led her to one of the beds. While helping her into the bed, Gemma glanced down and saw what looked like an hourglass clutched in the girl's hand. Gemma raised her eyebrows for a moment, recognizing what it might have been, but saying nothing. In the bed next to them was one of the teenager from the center of the room, a boy with the very same red hair as the girl. He had strange, circular marks all over his arms and face.

He looked over to the girl as Gemma started to wipe at some wounds on the girl's face. "It's gonna be ok now, Ginny. Don't worry. The healers here will take care of him. They'll take care of everything" The boy however did not sound like he meant a word of it. Ginny continued to cry. A Healer, working on the boy's wounds, cut Gemma off from asking the boy what had happened.

"So Ginny is it?" Gemma asked. The young girl remained quiet and stared blankly forward as if in shock, tears just streaming down her face silently. "Ginny," Gemma asked as she began to look at the girl's ankle, "do you know what happened here?"

Ginny looked up, her eyes shining. She was about to say something, made a motion to move her clenched hand forward, when one of the other Healers yelled, "Gemma, get over here now! I can't believe this."

Gemma ran over quickly to where there were still a few healers circled around the man and the boy in the center of the floor. The boy was still crying, and the man was trying to comfort him, although his words were barely whispers and very hard to make out. Gemma knelt down herself to get a better look, as several healers were trying to move the boy away and a few others were hastily looking over the man. Gemma began a cursory examination of the man too, beginning with his leg which appeared to have been smashed somehow. When she looked into the man's face, her eyes met half-moon spectacles and nothing could have prepared her for the shock.

"Professor Dumbledore! You've got to be kidding!"

Dumbledore smiled weakly, his clear blue eyes meeting her. "I assure you my dear, I never kid in matters of this sort." He wheezed a bit while he talked, as if he were trying to get more air into his lungs to speak. "I had hoped to see you again, although these are not the circumstances I had imagined. I guess I figured that if you did not come to see me at school, I would storm your place of business and force a reunion."

Gemma let out a small laugh. "Oh, Professor. You always were trying to impress me, horribly I might add. I don't think you ever did manage it once, bless your soul." Gemma smiled warmly at him. Dumbledore chuckled painfully, which brought Gemma out of her shock of seeing him. "What in the world happened here? Everyone here looks as if….as if…" she shut her eyes as she found she almost could not say it. She brought her voice very low. "It reminds me of when he was…" she opened her eyes again to look at Dumbledore pleadingly. _No_, she said to him with her eyes. _Please do not let it be so_. His steady gaze however seemed to confirm it for her.

Gemma set her face. "Help me get him into a bed this instant. We will not be treating the Headmaster on the floor." The Healers around her helped her carry him to a bed. Gemma noticed that the group that had come with him, while still in the beds they were placed and being treated for their injuries, kept their heads turned in their direction. The teenage boy that had been with Dumbledore on the floor was seated on the bed next to them, staring intently. Healers rushed about them all, trying to stop bleeding, mend wounds, undoing the damage of various curses, hexes, and jinxes.

Gemma straightened out her robe, wishing against wish that she had been even the slightest bit cleaner when mixing Lani's potions. She took quick stock of the Healers around her, noted that she seemed to be senior to them all, and put on her best game face. "Here's how this is going to work," she looked directly into Dumbledore's face. "I do not want to know what happened right now. I don't care if you were attacked by a vampire, Muggle, or if you got too frisky with Rosmerta's wine and decided to have a contest to show us all who really is the boss. Right now none of that matters." Dumbledore started to chuckle. "This is not the time for any of that mess. I only want to know what was used against you. What curses were placed on you?"

Dumbledore looked around and caught the faces of those in the beds. They all seemed to want to almost smile at the way Gemma was bossing him as if she were the headmaster and he the student. Had the situation not been so grave they would have probably laughed at her reproachful tone.

Dumbledore tried his best to recount what had happened, his lungs seeming to strain with the effort. The others in the room had tried to help fill in where they could, but Gemma merely snapped that she didn't remember asking anyone but Dumbledore to speak. She was more scared for Dumbledore than she cared to admit, and so her usually good nature was replaced with a harsher, businesslike manner.

Dumbledore's voice was getting weaker and weaker, the wheezing came with nearly each breath now, his skin was growing paler and paler, and was beginning to turn a shade of light blue. Gemma's own face became more and more furrowed as she tried everything she could think of with no result.

She held several small conferences with the other Healers in the building. They all spoke in hushed voices, their faces growing grimmer and grimmer with each word. None of the spells used against him would have caused such a prolonged effect. All the hexes and curses and jinxes he said were used against him would have had usual effects that the Healers could counter. Whatever had been used against him wasn't acting like known casted magic. Nothing they did to counter the effects seemed to be working. Worse still was the fact that whatever had done this seemed to still be working as he was growing steadily worse. Gemma had decided to instead treat each of his symptoms separately, trying to keep him alive long enough to find out what was really doing the damage. In the meantime, she was hoping to find hints as to what might be the cause. They only seemed to be sustaining him now, and even with their efforts, he was beginning to grow weaker.

Gemma racked her brain, trying to think of what kind of curse would be causing these symptoms. Her mind worked furiously as she watched Dumbledore grow dimmer and dimmer. She sat down on the bed next to him and took his hand, rubbing it gently. He had his eyes only half open now, and he didn't try nearly as often to speak.

"You know, I always knew you would be a great healer," Dumbledore mumbled to her, trying to open his eyes a bit more, and seeming to gasp for each breath it took to speak.

"Righto. Bang up job I'm doing at the moment," Gemma reached out to remove his hair from his face. "Your letter to me last week, you said you needed to talk to me about something. Something you needed help with?" Gemma asked. She wanted to keep talking to him, because despite herself, he made her feel comfortable. While he was lying there dying, she was still needing him to be there to encourage her.

Dumbledore coughed a bit. He was turning bluer around the fingers and face. He had grown cold; his breathing had become quite labored. "That's not so important right now," he smiled at her.

"I knew it. You, you cheeky old man, were planning on tricking me into a dinner for two under innocent pretenses. Don't try to deny it. I don't let people off the hook, even when they are dying," Gemma goaded him. She was trying to make light of his condition, when in reality it frightened her to think that she might not be able to save him.

One of the men that came in with him, laughed as he walked over. "How's he doing?"

Gemma looked at the man, and then at Dumbledore. Another healer had come forward to check on the boy next to Dumbledore. Gemma looked at the dark haired boy. He seemed to be absolutely heartbroken and almost guilty. Whatever had happened, he clearly thought was his own fault. She transferred her gaze to Dumbledore. His eyes had closed again. "Gwyn," Gemma turned her head to the Healer that had just moved over to the boy, "could you watch after him a bit?" She motioned her head to Dumbledore. Gwyn nodded and silently moved over to Dumbledore, her wand out.

"Come with me a moment, sir?" Gemma asked, and she and the man walked out of the ward. The boy next to Dumbledore watched them as they went out. Gemma met his gaze with her purple eyes, and tried to give the boy her most comforting smile. It did not have its usual effect, but the boy did not look nearly as heartbroken.

"I'm Remus Lupin," the man said as they stepped through the doors of the ward. He offered a hand as he looked strangely into Gemma's purple eyes.

Gemma tried to ignore his gaze, as it was making her feel slightly uncomfortable. "Gemma Peacecraft." She shook his hand briefly, quickly noting how tired and peaked the man looked. Most of his injuries had been healed it seemed.

"So, how's he doing? Truthfully."

Gemma sighed. "Truthfully, I have no idea what is doing this. While I have a fair amount of knowledge about the Dark Arts, I have no idea what curse this could be. I've run about every obscure curse, hex, or jinx I know through my mind, and I just can't find anything that will fit these symptoms. I've looked in every manual I could find here, and there is nothing! He's been here for hours and we are no closer to saving him. I don't know," Gemma ran a hand down her tired face. "All those years at Hogwarts, he seemed invincible. And he's here and he needs my help…and I can't even help him." Gemma brought her head down, tears starting to form in her eyes. The man named Remus put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't talk like that. I understand your frustrations. I myself know a good deal about the Dark Arts, and even I have no idea what could have done this. Certainly, if this is some kind of terrible new magic, then we have no idea what it could be. There is no reason for you to feel guilty." He squeezed her shoulder. "All you can do is move forward, and treat it the way you have been. Your plan of treating him symptom by symptom is at least what is keeping him alive."

Gemma half smiled, somewhat reassured. "I couldn't think of anything else to do. I'm just desperate to save him and that's all I know to do, but is that what I should be doing? What if there something else, something I'm missing? There's bound to be something that will work." Remus met her eyes again. At this moment she did not feel like being looked on as a freak. Trying to look away to avoid his eyes, her eyes fell to something large and dark in the corner. It was a huge dog, and it seemed to be listening to their conversation.

"There are no dogs allowed in here." She motioned to the dog. She felt somewhat lame and stupid saying it, but the dog had startled her as it was staring at her intently. It was unusually large, and Gemma couldn't imagine how it had come in.

Remus too looked surprised. He glanced down at the dog, gave an almost admonishing look, and then looked quickly around. He made a move toward the dog, pushing the doors to the ward back open and practically kicking the mutt in. "Surely, you'll allow us this? It was Dumbledore's pet."

Gemma raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember Dumbledore having any pets but Fawkes." Remus smiled at her, and started to open his mouth. Gemma smiled weakly, again rubbing her hand across her face. "Please, spare me. I don't want to know." She smirked. "What a day, what a day." She tugged slightly at the orange scarf around her neck, and pushed a few loose strands of her white hair back into her hat.

Remus smirked back at her. "Yes, it does look like you've had quite as an exciting day as we have," he gestured to her robes. Gemma looked down and was suddenly aware of how dirty she must look. She blushed slightly. "I was making an antidote earlier, and I guess I was a little too excited about it. And look at yourself, as if you should in good conscious make fun of my robes! Yours look positively dreadful!" Remus let out a genuine laughed as he looked down at his own tattered robes.

"It really was a silly case, the one I made the antidote for. Everyone was so worked up about it at first, but really it was just a minor antidote that did the trick. Sometimes, when things like that seem like they will be fiascoes…." Gemma trailed off. Remus could have sworn he had seen a light turn on in her eyes. "That's it!" She ran off immediately. "Thank you very much, Remus. It was wonderful to talk with you!"

Remus was a slight bit confused. He didn't see how an antidote to a poison would work on a curse or hex, but nonetheless he smiled weakly after her. He would not begrudge her a small bit of hope; he knew he could use some himself. "You are most welcome, Ms. Peacecraft."

Gemma burst back into the Derry Dorian ward with a mad quickness in her step, holding a very small vial. She was on a mission. Most of the people brought in with Dumbledore had been tended to, and were crowded around him, talking softly. Ginny was still sitting in her bed, crying. Gemma made a note to go back and talk to her afterwards, but now she needed to move quickly.

"Everyone, if you would, step back please," Gemma asked as she approached Dumbledore. He had been turning even bluer as time passed, and had slipped into near unconsciousness.

Remus stepped away from Dumbledore, allowed Gemma to get close to the bed, and then stepped back close behind her. The dog, Gemma noticed, also stepped in closer. "Gemma, what have you got there?" Remus asked. The boy next to Dumbledore started at her hands.

Gemma smiled. "It's so stupid. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. Here, help me get him to sit and wake up." Gemma started propping up pillows behind Dumbledore in an attempt to get him to sit up. Remus and the dark haired boy helped her.

"Gemma, I don't know how we are going to wake him, and I don't see what an antidote or potion will do. He was cursed. We need to find the countercurse. Antidotes are for poisons."

"Imagine that! I suppose for our next lesson together you can teach me the difference between night and day, I might have missed that subtle distinction as well," she snarked back. "I'm so sorry, Professor, but you are going to have to wake up," Gemma said with her most gentle voice and started to shake him softly. The other woman in the room brought in with Dumbledore, who had bright pink hair, moved forward to stop Gemma, but Remus held her back. Remus motioned for her to leave them be. The woman looked hurt, but obeyed.

Dumbledore's eyes flickered. "You need to drink this. Open up." His eyes closed again. "Albus, Albus please look at me." Dumbledore remained motionless. Gemma's voice grew pleading, "Albus. Please, you must drink this." She put the vial to his lips. His eyes flickered again, met hers briefly, and he swallowed a small amount of the potion. "That's it. Please, just a bit more." He did not open his eyes again, but drank a bit more of the potion this time. "Excellent!" Gemma said satisfied and took a few steps back.

Suddenly, every muscle in Dumbledore's body seemed to shake as he was racked with coughs. They were loud coughs that seemed to take up all his breath and he began to make gasping noises as if he were suffocating. The whole group looked at Gemma with near murder in their eyes. It seemed that she had made things even worse, and might even have finished the job. The dark-haired boy rushed to pat Dumbledore's back, as if he could somehow clear him from coughing. The woman too had rushed forward and took his hand, and another man, with a somewhat mangled face, tried to hold Dumbledore down, as his coughing was nearly shaking him out of his bed.

Gemma merely stood back with a satisfied grin. Within a minute, Dumbledore's flesh started to pink up again, his eyes opened, and while he was still coughing, his coughs weren't nearly as forceful. His blue eyes seemed to clear more, his fingers pinked up too, and his breathing was no longer labored.

Gemma calmly walked back up to him, a glass of water in her hand. She smiled at him. Dumbledore smiled back, the smile between the two seemed to indicate a close friendship. "I knew I was saved the moment I saw you were my healer," he croaked out, his throat clearly sore from the deep coughing.

Gemma blushed a bit, then embraced him. "I wish you would have let me in on your little confidence. I was under the impression I was going to be the Healer in schoolbooks credited with killing the most beloved Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had!" Dumbledore returned her hug fiercely for a moment, the released her.

He smiled mischievously at her as he took a sip of his water. His voice was very hoarse from all the coughing, "I'm sure you would have only been vilified for a few hundred years."

Gemma laughed, more relived than anything. The pink-haired walked up next to her, looking incredulously from her to Dumbledore. "You mind letting the rest of us in on it?" She sounded almost perturbed, though she moved to fluff up Dumbledore's pillows, as if trying to make him more comfortable.

"It was actually quite simple. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier!" Gemma looked at all the faces staring at her expectantly, and was suddenly feeling very self-conscious. While she was sure they were looking at her merely for the answer, she couldn't help but feel that there were also using it as an excuse to stare at her unusual appearance. She unconsciously brought her hand up to her scarf, to ensure it was covering her scar, and messed a bit with her hat to ensure her hair was covered.

"He had been poisoned by a Smothering Poison! Expertly crafted as well. It was brewed specially to slowly suffocate its victim." Gemma's eyes grew dark. Yes, whoever had brewed this poison had meant for it to be a very gruesome death indeed.

One of the teenagers that came in with Dumbledore, a girl with bushy brown hair spoke up, "You mean, he was suffocating the whole time?"

"Yes, that's why his breathing was so labored and he was turning blue. You see, the potion acts as…" Gemma stopped as she looked at Remus. No, they probably did not want to hear the details of how Dumbledore was being slowly suffocated. "I am fairly confident that there will be no permanent injuries," Gemma said, adding with a smirk, "Although I think he might now owe me _very_ big."

Dumbledore laughed hoarsely.

"But he never drank anything," the dark-haired boy, who had barely moved from Dumbledore's side, said.

"Yes, that's the most ingenious part!" Gemma said excitedly. "Well, not ingenious, as in I'm not actually complimenting the person who did this," Gemma added, blushing a bit.

"You see, a long time ago, Dark witches and wizards would poison the tips of their wands. When they cast out spells, the poison would be carried with it. So, even if their hexes or curses were cured, the poison would enter the bloodstream of their victim, and would kill them without them even knowing they were poisoned." The boy's eyes grew wide, but darkened slightly.

Dumbledore laughed and took her hand. "Absolutely splendid! I would have expected no one but you to catch that." He and Gemma exchanged an affectionate look as she blushed.

"But how did you know that?" The boy asked. He was still looking suspiciously at her, as if she was not telling the whole truth.

Gemma smiled warmly at him. "I assure you it was no stroke of brilliance. I was just reading the one of Gilderoy Lockhart's fiction novels, not his non-fiction mind you," as she said this, the red-haired boy who knew Ginny muttered under his breath. Gemma merely smiled and continued, "And you see, the main character in it, Roy, is a dark wizard who has seen the error of his ways. He himself, after renouncing his dark ways, healed an entire town which had been plagued by a rash of poisonings by finding that the source was actually his evil brother, who had been jinxing the town with his poisoned wand and you see…" Gemma trailed off as they all stared silently at her.

Then they all exploded into laughter. Gemma herself could not help but laugh as well. It really was quite ridiculous, but fortunate just the same. And the look on the dark-haired boy's face was enough to take away most of Gemma's embarrassment. Gemma had wanted to take that sad look off the boy's face since she had first seen him kneeling by Dumbledore's side. Truthfully, Lockhart had forced her to take a signed copy of the book just the other day when she looked in on him, and she would have felt bad to refuse it.

The boy had looked heartbroken, and interestingly guilty, and Gemma was as glad to save Dumbledore as she was to have helped the boy. Gemma could understand what he was going through. Dumbledore was much more than a teacher to her as well, and she felt his heartbreak when she thought she couldn't save Dumbledore.

The atmosphere in the ward lightened considerably. Everyone was talking and moving around. The teenagers each took their turns talking to Dumbledore, all needing to see for themselves that he was ok.

Gemma waved and smiled warmly as Neville caught her eye. She mouthed that she would be back to talk to him later. She pointed to the door to indicate that she would be leaving. Walking tiredly out of the ward, she saw Ginny still sitting on her bed. Had she not heard?

"Ginny? All right dear? See it all worked out. He's fine now," Gemma said soothingly.

Ginny looked up at Gemma, and Gemma now saw triumphant joy, not sadness in her eyes. "I know. It worked! I fixed everything!" She jumped off her bed, and walked over to where the mini-celebration was going on, a spring in her step. Gemma shook her head, convinced that that girl was crazy, as she had no idea what she was talking about. But Gemma did have the sneaking suspicion that she understood more than she would have liked.

She had seen Ginny with a certain necklace in her hand. And while Gemma could not be certain that it was, in fact, what she thought it was, she was nearly certain, and Ginny's actions and words made her quite positive. It had been a time-turner, though she had no idea how Ginny had gotten a hold on one. Ginny had gone back in time to change the events of the day. Gemma figured she had gone back to save Dumbledore, and while worried that time had been meddled with, admonitions running through her mind for the reckless who sought to change the past, she could not help but be grateful that time had changed. She was not eager at all to be part of a world where there was no Albus Dumbledore. Especially if You-Know-Who was truly back. Gemma could think of no other that would want to hurt Dumbledore so.

Glancing one last time back to the cheerful motley group, though, Gemma began to doubt Ginny's intentions. Ginny was not nearly as interested in Dumbledore as she was with the dark-haired boy and the dog that was with them all. Ginny had dropped down to all of her fours and gave the dog a massive hug. Gemma walked, puzzled from the ward. Surely, the girl had not gone back in time, risked the life of Albus Dumbledore, to save a boy's dog?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the world in which they live. I intend no infringement upon J.K. Rowling's rights at all. I only ask that she let me borrow her creations for a little while. I promise to put everything back the way I found it!

Chapter 2:

Gemma sat in the tearoom on the fifth floor, her eyes glued to the _Daily Prophet_ in front of her. She simply could not believe what she was reading. You-Know-Who was back, and it seemed, as powerful as ever. Her mind ever so often drifted to the group below. That must have been what happened to them last night: a fight with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his Death Eaters, possibly in an attempt to stop him from coming to power. Her heart swelled with pride at the thought of Dumbledore fighting valiantly to stop him. At the end of her third year at school, certain secret events took place at Hogwarts that had formed a bond between herself and Dumbledore. They were not merely student and teacher. They were friends who had been through much. Gemma's appearance stood testament to that.

Gemma was slowly sipping her tea when a voice came from her left, and a hand descended on the empty seat beside her. "Is this seat taken?"

Gemma smiled warmly, and chuckled a bit. "Well, it will be if you join me, Remus. How are you doing today? You look slightly less worse for wear, get enough sleep? Robes could still use a bit of…mending?" She smiled mischievously at him as she rearranged her hat absentmindedly, unconsciously making sure all her hair was hidden. His robes today looked as shabby as they had the night before, and his skin was slightly pale. He looked as if he got no sleep. Gemma made a mental note to check with the healers below to ensure that they had taken a close look at his condition.

Remus laughed as well. "I see you, however, have managed to clean up quite nicely." Gemma hadn't started her shift yet and so her lime-green robes were thankfully clean. She smiled softly at his compliment.

"Did you come up for some tea, Remus? I'll get the waitress to bring you over a cup." Gemma started to motion to the waitress.

"Actually, I came up here looking for you."

Gemma felt heat rise to her cheeks, and her hand darted to the orange, flowery scarf around her neck. "And to what do I owe that honor?"

"I thought we might begin your second lesson on subtle differences. Night and day I believe was your suggestion?" Remus said in a matter-of-fact voice, keeping his face neutral.

Gemma's eyes opened wide for a moment, but then she laughed heartily when realized he was merely teasing her. "I am so sorry I was rude. I normally behave with slightly better decorum around my patients. I was just stressed and I snapped. It's my only excuse. You aren't mad, are you?"

"Not at all. I very much like to be put in my place every so often. I find it very useful for my self-esteem."

Gemma laughed again, and turned her head to the side to avoid Remus's eyes, which seemed to be staring at her intently. She glanced around the room. It was mostly vacant this early in the morning. Her eyes suddenly drifted to the large, black dog from last night sitting not far from Remus and herself. Gemma could have sworn that the dog was eyeing them disapprovingly.

"Remus, that dog has followed you again. I really did mean it when I said dogs aren't allowed in the hospital, especially such a large, dirty mongrel. He looks dreadful." Gemma could have sworn that the dog had heard and understood her as he began to bare his teeth. Gemma looked warily at him, but then noticed a large, bleeding gash on the dog's front left leg. "Oh no! He's hurt!"

She hurried over to the dog, and gingerly lifted the leg to asses the damage. The dog made no motion to take the leg away from her, but did still look watchful of her. "This is a quite a deep wound! How did it happen?" She undid the flowery scarf from her neck, and tied it around the dog's wounded leg to help stop the bleeding. She turned to Remus, who was not hiding the fact that he was starting at the scar on her neck. Gemma self-consciously tried to raise the collar of her robe to hide as much of it as possible. She felt that the dog was staring at it too.

Remus ignored her question, instead saying, "He is actually why I came to see you. Dumbledore said you would help. I hope you don't think it's too odd a request to heal a dog?"

Gemma laughed brightly. "I won't lie that that man is behind some of the most unusual requests of my life. But of course I will help." She smiled to herself as she wondered if the dog was hurt with the others last night. "Only Albus Dumbledore would rush to battle dark forces with a dog." She chuckled and began to pet the dog gently. The dog closed his eyes as if soothed.

"We'll just go down to the second floor and I'll fix him right up." Gemma moved to place her arms around the dog to pick him up. The dog's eyes shot open and he backed quickly away with a small growl. Remus laughed.

"What? I was gonna carry him. I don't want him to walk on it if he's hurt! It might make it worse."

"Trust me, he'll live."

He, Gemma and the dog left the tearoom and started toward the stairwell. Remus lowered his voice as they began walking down the stairs. "Gemma, is there perhaps a private room we may go to take care of the dog? Dumbledore had mentioned that we might like to be discrete." Gemma raised her eyebrows and stopped in her tracks. Healing a dog in secret on Dumbledore's orders was sounding more and more fishy and less, much less, than it had seemed previously.

Remus added, trying to sound nonchalant, "I mean, you yourself said that dogs aren't allowed. I just thought we wouldn't want to get you in trouble for breaking the rules."

"Oh, is that all?" Gemma asked mirthfully. "I'm glad to know you have my best interests at heart. For a moment there I thought maybe you and Dumbledore were up to no good." She smirked at him, eyebrows raised, then added, "My office is a few floors down. I should have everything we need in there. I can fix this little guy up there."

"Excellent."

They walked in silence to the third floor. All through the winding corridors to her office, Gemma scouted a bit a head to ensure that no one would see them. She knew she didn't want anyone to know that she was in on any of this, whatever it was.

She led Remus and the dog into her office and shut the door quickly. The room was fairly large as it was where she brewed all her potions and antidotes, so it held the majority of her equipment. The back wall was nothing but shelf after shelf of supplies and ingredients. Near the shelving was a large table with a cauldron in the middle, with various tools and several different sized pestles and mortars. Gemma had a small desk near the door, cluttered with books and papers. Next to the desk was a smaller bookshelf with what seemed to be filled mostly with herbology and potion manuals.

She motioned for Remus to sit in a chair near the bookshelf while she rushed ahead to her desk, clearing off a space on it. She then swiftly moved over to her cauldron, lit the fire absently, and began pulling bottles and vials from the shelves along wall. "If you could just put the dog on my desk, I can get started working on his leg."

Gemma placed all her supplies on the table next to the cauldron, and quickly turned back to grab a few empty vials. As she turned around again to begin her work, she screamed and dropped them to the ground, breaking one. Next to Remus Lupin was not a bleeding dog, but a convicted murderer, the escaped prisoner, Sirius Black.

Gemma sprung to action before she could think. "Accio!" she shouted at her wand, which had been placed precariously at the edge of her desk, and as it flew into her hand, she raised it and flicked it at Sirius. He fell to the ground.

"Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted at her a second later.

Gemma could feel her wand wrenched from her hand, and she stumbled back from the force of his spell. "Remus! What was that for? Don't you know who he…"she trailed off as she saw Remus bend down to help Sirius out of the Body-Bind Curse she had placed on him. "Gah!" she screamed, "You knew it was him all along! You tricked me!"

"Gemma, please calm down," Remus turned to her. "I can explain everything if you'll let me. Do we honestly look like we mean to harm you?" He held his hands up as if to show he meant her no harm. Gemma turned to Sirius who looked at her incensed.

Gemma's face dropped. "Are you going to murder me if I don't help?"

Before either could answer, Gemma started for her wand, "Well I don't intend to go without a fight!" Sirius saw her moving though, and he reached her wand before she could.

"Silencio!" Sirius shouted at her. He then flicked her wand at her, and ropes shot out, fastening around her ankles and wrists. She fell to the ground, landing on her face. Sirius could see her silently cry out in pain.

"Sirius! What do you think you are doing?" Remus grabbed the wand from him, walked over to Gemma and bent down. "Are you all right?" He swept his wand over her, freeing her from the ropes. "I promise we aren't here to hurt you."

"We couldn't have her screaming and attacking us, could we? You heard her, she called us murders and threatened to assault us," Sirius said in a bitter voice, ignoring Gemma as she was rubbing her wrists. "It's not my fault Dumbledore said we could trust her and she proved herself to be nothing but a hysterical ninny."

"Sirius," Remus said irately.

"If you think you can trust her, you go right on ahead, but I warned you. You heard her. She's liable to attack. She doesn't understand." He began rubbing his injured arm. The force of the fall seemed to have made the wound reopen and blood was pouring even more freely now.

Gemma's face reddened, but she said nothing to Sirius. She looked a Remus, motioning that she wanted to talk again. Remus flicked the wand at her again.

Gemma asked the first question that sprung to her mind. "So, you aren't here to murder me? And Dumbledore knew the dog was Sirius Black?" Remus nodded. She began to rub her forehead as it turned red from the force of when she landed on it. "Dumbledore asked me to help the dog, knowing that it was Sirius Black?" Remus nodded again. "Sirius Black...the…But why would he want met to help a…?" She trailed off and looked at Sirius, a deep frown on her face, somewhat afraid of him. He was a notorious killer and she couldn't fathom why Dumbledore would befriend him.

Sirius's face grew dark. He did not like the look of fear or accusation on Gemma's face. He hated to think of all the terrible things she thought of him at that moment. It angered him that no one ever even considered that he might be innocent.

Remus helped Gemma to her feet. "Well, he is innocent. You should know that Dumbledore wouldn't trust him unless he was absolutely sure of it. Sirius has never killed anyone. At least, not that I know of," Remus tried to add in jest.

Sirius snorted and sat down at the edge of Gemma desk. He began to play with the scarf that Gemma had tied around his wounded arm as more blood came trickling down.

"Are you sure you aren't hurt, Gemma? I should have said something sooner. I was just reluctant to say anything in the open, and then you seemed to have such quick reflexes, I didn't have time to explain." Gemma blushed slightly. She felt very, very stupid at the moment.

She knew that she had reacted in haste, but when she had turned around and saw Sirius standing there, her mind became clouded and she reacted on instinct. How was she supposed to know that he was innocent?

Gemma's face reddened as she looked at Sirius and he glared back at her. She tried to compose herself while inside she began to fume at what he had done, his glare just angering her more. He had no right to have attacked her like that…even if she had attacked him first. How did he expect her to act? And he certainly shouldn't have insulted her like that. If Dumbledore hadn't asked her to help, she would refuse to help him now. But he had asked, and so she had a job to do, no matter how much she wished she didn't.

She got up with as much grace as she could muster and walked back over to her cauldron, kicking aside the shattered vial. She grabbed a few ingredients, and began mashing them in a small pestle and mortar. Gemma could tell that both men were watching her, but the three of them remained silent.

She tried to steal glances at Sirius while she was preparing some Schisandra berries for a poultice. She had never been near an escaped prisoner, innocent or not, and so she found herself fascinated with him. He had an impressive presence. She could feel him in the room, even when she wasn't looking at him.

His long dark hair was just the length she liked: long enough to make him look dangerous, but not too long. His face was also very handsome, although extremely careworn and somewhat gaunt. From what she remembered from the papers so long ago, he had been even more handsome. He looked somewhat thin and pale, as if he hadn't been able to eat or sleep properly for some time. Gemma wondered if it was due to his time in Azkaban with the Dementors. He seemed on guard and tense as well, as if he were looking for hostility and danger from everywhere.

She found that the only feature she could readily dislike was his eyes. They looked dead, as if there was nothing behind them. They were a cold, steel gray. Eyes that looked right into and past her soul without seeing. And there was, of course, his sparkling personality. She couldn't forget in her assessment of him, that disdainful look he kept giving her. Who did he think he was?

Yes, all in all, she discovered that she did not like Sirius Black in the slightest, or so she told herself. And it seemed that he had taken an immediate dislike to her as well. Gemma knew by now that that the handsome, dangerous boys never, ever liked the plain, smart girls. And, to top it all off, she had just made herself a complete fool in front of him. She didn't even want to know what he thought of her.

Steeling herself, Gemma walked back over to where Sirius was sitting on the desk, still fumbling with the scarf around his arm. She paused for a moment, wondering how close she had to be to help him. She did not trust herself to get too close as she could already feel heat rising on her cheeks. She knew someone she disliked shouldn't have this effect on her. Sirius however, took this as a sign that she was reluctant to touch him, as if he were something unclean or if he really were a violent criminal, and felt his anger rise.

"This was a mistake. I'm fine, let's go. I should have known better than to expect help from her," Sirius spat out as he rose from the desk and headed for the door.

"Stop being a cad," Remus said, getting up to stop Sirius from leaving the room.

Gemma nearly burst with the indignity of the way he was treating her. She was not some silly, bumbling idiot and he could not just speak to her like that.

"You listen here, you intolerable git! How in Merlin's name was I supposed to know that you were innocent? It's not everyday that the most notorious escaped prisoner of this century comes into my office and asks me to help. You'll have to excuse me if I reacted to defend myself not knowing any better. We cannot all be as forgiving and understanding as you. Now you get back over here and sit down. You've no idea what I'm risking in helping your ungrateful ego!"

Sirius's top lip quivered once. That was the only indication he gave, but he did finally turn back around and sit on the edge of her desk. Gemma shot Remus a sidewise, intimidating glance, and he sat back down in the chair immediately. She again approached Sirius, without hesitation this time.

She took off the scarf and began to cleanse the wound with the healing poultice she had just made.

Sirius turned his head away. "What is this? It smells awful. Are you sure you know what you are doing?" He tried to keep himself talking to avoid thinking about her gentle touches on his arm.

Gemma ignored him, but rubbed a bit harder on his arm, and he cried out halfheartedly. "It's a healing salve. Be quiet and sit still."

"It smells like you put something old and dead in it. Did mix in something you shouldn't have?"

Gemma stared at him fiercely. "It is black cumin, purslane, goldenseal, and Schisandra berries. I didn't know you had such a delicate nose or I would have been sure to use all my nice smelling herbs instead of the effective ones. And if you know so much about healing, perhaps next time you can do me a favor and do this yourself!" She reached for vial filled with a somewhat thick, dark brown liquid.

"Drink this and I don't want to hear a thing about its taste or smell," she said in a tone that did not leave room for argument and shoved the vial into Sirius's hand. "You'll have to forgive me if it's not to your liking. I hadn't planned on someone with your delicate sensibilities coming in this morning." Sirius drank it without protest.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked briskly, as she began dabbing the wound with the contents of another vial.

"I don't think so," Sirius said as he turned his head away. He was trying his hardest not to stare at her, but it was becoming increasing hard for him the longer she was close to him. He tried to explain it as that he was just intrigued by her odd appearance, or possibly it was because he hadn't been close to a young woman in nearly 15 years. Whatever it was, he just found himself feeling odd around her. Her hair also smelled faintly of lavender, and he found it quite appealing. He kept snarking at her to distance himself as much as possible. It was a trick he had used in school to keep everyone away.

"That's not true. He said his rib cage was hurting him earlier," Remus broke in.

"Well, then let's have a look," Gemma said hastily, feeling somewhat hesitant that she would have to take off his shirt. She reached down to help him pull his shirt over his head, but Sirius smacked her hand away.

"They're just sore is all. There's no need to look."

Remus stood up. "I seem to remember that you were complaining just as much about your ribs as you were your arm last night. Why not let Gemma at least look? She's here to help."

Sirius looked around the room, desperate for some kind of excuse. He looked down at the desk, and couldn't keep himself from laughing out loud. He picked up several books from Gemma's desk. "_Year with the Yeti_. _Holidays with Hags_. _Wanderings with Werewolves_," he shot a meaningful glance to Remus. "All signed personally by the dashing Mr. Lockhart himself. I see you are as big of fan of his non-fiction works," he couldn't help but snort at the thought of it, "as his fiction. Oh yes, Remus. Why don't I have just the utmost confidence in her abilities when she clearly has such a voracious mind and staggering intellect? Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he picked her for the job."

Sirius didn't understand why the thought of Gemma being a Gilderoy Lockhart fan bothered him so, but it made him feel even more irritable than before.

Gemma cursed herself for taking the books. Gilderoy offered her copies every time she went up to visit him, and she didn't have the heart to refuse him. She remained silent, however, as she didn't want to have to defend herself from Sirius's accusations. She quietly walked back over to her shelves, looked a moment for the correct potion, and walked back over to Sirius, with it in hand.

"Is this for my ribs?" Sirius asked, eyeing her warily. Her silence made him wish he hadn't burst out like that. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He was just trying to keep from having to take off his shirt. He didn't trust himself if she had to touch his bare skin.

Gemma merely nodded. Sirius opened the vial and drank it all. It was a light pink, smooth liquid, and it tasted not unlike a mix of cherry and licorice. "See, now that wasn't bad. I knew you had it in you to make at least one pleasant potion."

Gemma merely smiled, though the sweetness of the smile made Sirius immediately wished he had not drank the potion.

His eyelids instantly began to feel very heavy, and he felt wobbly, finding it hard to keep himself propped at the end of the desk. "You…you…poisoned me?" He asked with surprise. He felt his eyelids become too heavy to keep open and he fell unceremoniously to the floor with a thud.

Remus rushed over and knelt down next to Sirius. "What on earth? Gemma?"

"Oh, relax, Remus. I did not poison him." Gemma too knelt down to where Sirius had fallen, and she tried to straighten out all his limbs so he was lying flat on his back.

"Then what exactly to you call this?"

Gemma smiled. "It is just a simple sleeping draught. He wasn't going to let me look at his ribs. You said that he complained about them. I had to do something so I could examine him and make sure it's nothing serious. Besides, he was really starting to get on my nerves."

Remus laughed and smiled at her, amused. "You certainly are something else."

Gemma laughed herself. "Let this be a warning to the both of you. I may not seem like much, but I'm dangerous when provoked." She smiled to herself as she walked to the door of her office.

"I think there is a single room at the end of this hall that stays mostly empty. Let me go make sure the coast is clear and the bed is made. You can help me carry him over to it then. I can do a more proper examination there."

Gemma left her office silently, careful so that no one would see her. Meanwhile, Remus put his arms around Sirius's waist. "By Merlin you are going to be mad when you wake up." He smiled to himself. "I hope she'll be ready for you." He lifted up Sirius, slung him over his shoulder, and waited for Gemma to give him the all clear before he carried Sirius to the empty room at the end of the hall.

"Just throw him on that bed there please," Gemma said as she closed the door behind them. She waved her wand at the door, shooting rainbow sparks at the knob.

"What was that?" Remus asked as he heard the lock turn loudly.

"Just a spell I invented when I was at school. Keeps the door locked unless you know the password. It's rather powerful. I've not known anyone to get through it yet without knowing the password."

Remus laughed. "Need to keep doors locked to hide all your mischief making at school? I would venture a guess and say you were just as hard to handle then as you are now."

Gemma moved over to Sirius and started to remove his shirt. She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself from staring in case Remus would notice. "More like to hide from all the nasty kids so I could have a few moments when I wasn't laughed at."

Remus's face clouded, but he said nothing else.

Gemma began to run her fingers down the sides of Sirius's chest, noting that the tips of her fingers tingled as she did so. She kept reminding herself that she did not like him one bit, that he was an immature prat, and that in short time she had known him, he constantly insulted her. She was a bit surprised at the excellent shape he was in. While a bit skinny and undernourished, he was not at all bad too look at.

Gemma ran her fingers across his chest again, more slowly this time. "I did actually feel a few broken ribs, Remus." Gemma also ran her hands quickly down Sirius's arms. She didn't feel anything else broken. "Let me grab a few things, and I'll come back in to fix him up."

Gemma walked to the door, rubbing her hands as they still were tingling. "Skittles," Gemma said quietly to the door. Remus turned quickly as he heard the lock turn.

"Skittles? What is that?"

An impish smile formed on Gemma's face. "It's a Muggle candy. I just love Muggle candies." Remus laughed amusedly.

She was only gone a moment before Remus heard 'Skittles' on the other side of the door, and Gemma rushed back in. She had made a hammock out of the front of her robes to carry everything she needed.

She first took out a roll of bandage. Cutting a length from it, she turned to Remus for a moment. "I've been meaning to ask: did we win?"

"Hmm?" Remus asked, puzzled.

She began to wrap the bandage carefully around Sirius's arm after applying a final salve. "Last night, when you guys were fighting with You-Know-Who. I mean, I know you never told me that's what happened, but I assumed when I read the paper this morning." She cut a bit more bandage and began wrapping his arm in the opposite direction. "So, I just want do know, did we win or did he?" She tied the bandages in a small knot and looked up to Remus, meeting his eyes. "Do we stand a chance this time?"

Remus grew thoughtful for a moment before he spoke, not sure what he could tell her. But since Dumbledore trusted her, he would too. "We stopped him from getting what he wanted last night. No one on our side was hurt too terribly. It's been revealed irrefutably that he is back, and several of his Death Eaters were arrested. All in all, I'd say we wound up slightly better than could have been hoped. I'd say our chances look better than ever."

Gemma had started to rub a sweet smelling poultice on Sirius's ribs. She probably could have just smeared the stuff on him, but the motion relaxed her, and that pleasant tingle stayed in her finger-tips. "But last time, we got a lucky break. We were saved by The-Boy-Who-Lived. What if we aren't so lucky this time? Are we really ready for a Second War?"

Gemma looked sadly at Remus. "The price of the First War was very high, and we are still feeling its effects." Remus's eyes trailed a moment to her scar, and he began to really wonder for the first time what might have happened to cause such a wound. Her words seemed to indicate that she might have had a run in with some Death Eaters, or at least some dark magic, in the war before.

She stopped the rubbing motion, and her hands rested on Sirius's chest. Gemma could feel his heartbeat. "I just don't want to think about what's going to happen." Gemma looked down at Sirius's face. "I'm scared."

Remus walked over and squeezed her shoulder, trying to reassure her. "I won't lie and say that it's going to be any better this time because I don't know that. None of us do. But I really do feel more confident about our chances. Dumbledore has not just been sitting idly. He's been working since we first knew, before the Ministry would admit it. He's got plans in motion. He's been doing his homework."

Gemma raised a hand up to meet Remus's on her shoulder. "You're right. I shouldn't be so negative."

She rose and walked over to where she had placed a few more vials. She took one with a purple color not unlike her eyes. She unscrewed the lid to it and took out the small dropper that was inside it. She walked back over to Sirius and propped his head up a bit with her hands. She couldn't help but notice how soft his hair felt.

She put the dropper to his lips and dashed a few drops of the liquid into his mouth. "Remus, this tincture should help him with any pain. It will take a few days for the ribs to stop feeling tender." She walked back again to the table in the room, where she had several vials laid out. "I've got him all set up. This poultice needs to be rubbed on the wound on his arm twice a day. This salve needs to be applied on top of the poultice every three or so hours. They work together to heal the wound faster. This dark potion he should take once a day. This purple tincture, as I said, is for the pain and he can have two drops, no more, every four hours. This salve here is for his ribs. He can rub it on any time they start to feel tight or tender."

Remus's eyes followed her hand as she pointed to all the bottles. "I'll also give you this roll of bandage. I've put a charm on it so it has a soothing effect on the wounded area. It also can't unravel on its own so there is no need to make the bandage uncomfortably tight."

As Gemma finished, she noticed that Sirius was starting to stir. "I believe that is my cue to take my leave."

Remus smirked. "Yes, I don't think he'll be terribly happy with you when he wakes."

"He wasn't terribly happy before, I'd hate to see him any worse. Although, I think I've proven I can handle him," she smirked.

Remus chuckled, "Yes, I think he's no match for you. He never knew what hit him."

Giggling, Gemma walked over to Remus and held out her hand. Remus took it and they shook. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Remus. I'm glad I could help. I think I'd better get back to work now before they start to miss me, unless they already have."

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Gemma. I can see why Dumbledore was keeping you a secret."

Gemma smiled, but Remus noticed that it was a sadder smile than he had expected. Gemma turned to the door. "I do wish you luck in the fight." She flicked her wand at the knob to remove the password charm she had used.

"Isn't this the part where you say, 'If you need any more help, let me know.'?" Remus asked as Gemma stepped through the doorway.

She looked back at him, sadness now clearly apparent in her eyes. "I'm afraid this is one fight I'm going to have to ask that you keep me out of. It would have been best if I had never even been involved, but this is as much as I ever intend to help. You make sure Dumbledore understands that. You'll get no more from me." She said nothing else and closed the door softly, leaving poor Remus thoroughly confused, and about to face the wrath of an extremely grumpy Sirius Black.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the world in which they live. I intend no infringement upon J.K. Rowling's rights. I only ask that she let me borrow her creations for a little while. I promise to put everything back the way I found it!

Chapter 3:

Gemma had been at the apothecary for nearly half an hour, no closer to completing her task than when she had started. Friday afternoon, right before her shift was over at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, she had taken inventory of her potion making ingredients and materials. She created a list of what she needed most, intending to spend her Saturday morning shopping in Diagon Alley. She could certainly use the distraction. During the week, she had found it increasingly difficult to stay on task, and she was at the point now where she could barely concentrate long enough to read the labels on the ingredients in the store. No matter what she was doing, no matter how hard she tried to pay attention, her mind would wander off to that day at St. Mungo's and one positively infuriating Sirius Black.

She knew she was acting like a ridiculous teenager, but she really couldn't help it. She tried to think only of all the insults he spat at her. She tried to think of the snorting and disdainful look he always used around her. She thought of his arrogance and his pride. Most importantly, she tried to remind herself that she _did not_ like him.

No matter what things she told herself, though, she didn't seem to be listening. Every annoying trait of his she brought up would lead her to thinking of how his skin had felt on her fingertips, gently making them tingle. For every insult she remembered, she could hear the sound of his voice and how it made her feel hot and cold at the same time.

Gemma chastised herself for the millionth time for letting her mind wander and tried to shake the tenseness from her shoulders. She re-adjusted the lavender colored hat she was wearing, making sure that all her hair was well hidden. She took a deep breath as she tried to reread the label on the basket of dried black bat wings for the third time. Seeing 'black' on the label didn't help her already failing concentration.

She sighed, put the basket of wings back on the shelf and looked out the window. Rubbing her shoulders and loosening the matching lavender scarf she was wearing around her neck, Gemma eyed the street before her. She spotted a couple strolling nearby, hand in hand. They kept glancing at one another and laughing. She let her mind wander to what it might be like to be walking down the road like that with Sirius. She imagined that his hair would be wild and that his hand would feel strong and warm in hers. His smile would be small but dazzling. She wondered what his laugh might sound like and the things she could do to make him laugh. Then she realized that this, of course, was the reason why she couldn't get any work done. Everything always went back to Sirius Black, confound him. She was about to go out and walk around to clear her mind, when one very good reason to stay hidden appeared down the street.

Either she had gone completely crazy and had started hallucinating instead of daydreaming, or she was one unlucky woman. None other than Sirius Black was strutting down this very street. Gemma couldn't help but smile as she noticed the cocky spring in his step. He was no doubt enjoying is newly achieved freedom. He was wearing dark black pants and a fitted black vest over a rich blue shirt. His black cape hung dangerously loose about his shoulders, as if it was fall off at any moment. Freedom suited him well indeed. She smirked to herself.

The Monday edition of _The Daily Prophet_ had been full of nothing but the tragic story of Sirius Black. From cover to cover, ever detail of Sirius's life had been reported, including his break from the Black family, his time with the Potters, and his wrongful imprisonment at Azkaban. The Ministry had exonerated him, attesting to his innocence. From what Gemma could see, he was relishing in the freedom. It was a wall deserved freedom if half of what she had read was true.

She watched him, carefully hidden behind a rack of preserved dragon organs. The rack held large vats of pickling liquid with the organs floating, halfway submerged to keep them fresh. Gemma tried to ignore the putrid smell emanating from the vats as she craned her neck to keep Sirius in view. A little foul smell wasn't going to keep her from what she had been daydreaming about all week.

Sirius's long hair was flowing freely as he turned his head rapidly from side to side. He had a half-grin on his face as if he were mildly entertained with the sights around him. Judging by how often his head was turning though, Gemma guessed that he was either trying to take in all the scenes at once, or he was searching for something. There were probably a million things he wanted to get now that he was free, so Gemma couldn't guess at what he might been searching for.

She couldn't see his arm, but he didn't seem to be in any pain as it moved while he strode along. And he certainly couldn't strut like that if his ribs were hurting him. A satisfied smile formed on Gemma's lips. She had hoped he would make a speedy recovery so he could eat all his words about her.

Gemma was daydreaming what an apology from him would be like, the doleful look he would give her with his sad, gray eyes, when she noticed that he was, in fact, heading for the very apothecary she was in. Gemma looked quickly around for any place that she could hide. The last thing she wanted was to face him in her current state. She'd look like a lovelorn ninny if she started to daydream about him while he was actually there. Plus, she imagined he would be furious at her for what she had done at St. Mungo's. Seeing nothing to hide behind but the different aisles and shelves of the shop, she ducked quickly to her knees just as Sirius pushed open the door. He walked in slowly, the bell over the door ringing as the door shut.

She waddled to the end of the aisle, and peered around the shelves, trying to see where he was headed.

Sirius looked around the shop briefly before sauntering up to the front desk. "Is anyone here?" he asked in a clear, loud voice that carried in the empty shop. He surveyed the aisles as he moved ahead. His lip curled in distaste when no one answered him.

Gemma wondered if he was perhaps looking for a refill on some of the salves or poultices she had provided him, when an idea suddenly struck her. What if he was looking for her? This would be the most likely place to find her in Diagon Alley. Gemma pushed that idea quickly from her mind though. What could he possibly want with her?

She was just planning to make a run for the door, when she saw Sirius slowly turn from the front desk and begin walking back up. No one had answered him, so he looked as if he were browsing on his own. Unfortunately, he was now facing the door, and there was no way Gemma could leave and not be seen.

He turned again, his black boots clicking softly in the shop so Gemma could tell where he was. And her ears let her know that he was walking straight for the aisle she was hiding in. Gemma's heart began to beat quickly. She should just straighten up and let him know that she was there. She had nothing to be ashamed of. He had needed treatment and she had given it to him. Whether he wanted to be a dimwit about it or not was his own problem. She hadn't been the one throwing insults left and right. It would serve him right to have to face her and explain his behavior. She had evidently done a great job healing him. Here he was, a week later, fully healed, not even showing a sign of stiffness or soreness. Maybe he was even looking for her to thank her.

However, as soon as he approached her aisle, Gemma waddled around quickly to the other side. Her instincts must have preferred that she remain hiding from him. She looked again desperately for anything large enough to hide behind, but instead had to resort to crawling down the aisles, trying to always stay at least one ahead of Sirius.

She had several near misses too. While crawling on her hands, a stray bird talon had dug deeply into the palm of her hand. She nearly had to bite off her tongue to keep from crying out. Another time Sirius had stifled a yawn while looking at a potion and dropped the vial to the ground. Gemma had slipped in it later while escaping one of his sudden aisle changes. Gemma could have sworn that Sirius had heard the noise of her fumbling in it. He, however, made no indication that he knew of her presence.

The bell over the door suddenly rung as it opened. Gemma had to stifle her gasp as the sudden noise had startled her. She could hear footsteps as someone entered, but she had fled a few aisles away from Sirius to catch her breath, and so could not see who it was.

"I've been to Gringotts and Flourish and Blotts. I didn't see her anywhere. Kingsley is still looking around, and I think Tonks went over to give Knockturn Alley a look as well." Gemma recognized the voice of Remus Lupin. "Have you had any luck?"

They were looking for a woman. Could it be her?

"This shop is dead. I haven't even seen the merchant."

Remus sighed. "Dumbledore went to her house and the Hospital and couldn't find her in either place. It really is…" Remus and Sirius had walked further into the shop, and were now far enough away that Gemma could no longer make out what the voices were saying. She was now convinced that they were looking for her, but Gemma had no idea what they could want with her. Dumbledore had gone to her home and the hospital to look for her, and when he couldn't find her, he had sent no less than four wizards to look for her. Gemma almost wanted to jump up and see what all the fuss was about, but there was no way she would admit to Sirius that she had been hiding from him all along. He would never let it go.

She did, however, want to hear what they were saying, so she tried to waddle a bit closer to them, making sure to keep herself hidden.

The two had moved to a far corner of the shop and were speaking animatedly in front of large sterling silver cauldrons filled with dried plants. Gemma crept closer on the aisle that ran directly beside them, straining her ears.

"…is a bad idea. She made it very clear that she wouldn't be giving help freely. I don't understand why Dumbledore won't respect that."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Afraid to upset your new girlfriend?" He sounded aggravated.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Remus answered, amusement evident.

Sirius took up a handful of dried foxglove in his hands, and let the petals fall slowly back into the cauldron one by one. "Call it what you will. You flirted with her the whole time, and I heard you talking with Dumbledore about her the other day." Gemma raised her eyebrows. Did Sirius sound almost jealous? And what were Remus and Dumbledore talking about her for?

Remus chuckled. "In case you didn't notice, we do owe her a lot. Showing interest in a person who has helped you is actually what civilized people call being polite. You ought to try it some time. That is, if you ever get tired of playing the part of the arrogant prat."

Sirius sighed. He had been thinking about his behavior with her at the Hospital with uneasiness. He knew he had acted like a prat that day, and he bet she probably thought him a rude and arrogant wanker. He really couldn't explain why he did it either. She just…got under his skin from the moment they first met. When he had been in school, he had been able to charm the socks off any girl he wanted. With Gemma, it had been the opposite. Instead of charming her, he had repelled her.

Sirius cast his eyes down at the cauldron next to the foxglove, lost in thought, when his eyes fell to a reflection in the silver. Either his eyes deceived him, or Gemma Peacecraft was crouched down on the aisle right next to them. He could see her crawl a slight bit closer, turning her head to the side as if she were trying to hear. It took all his self-control not to burst out laughing right then.

A mischievous gleam formed in his eye. He supposed that Gemma must have been in the shop hiding from him the whole time. He could definitely work this to his advantage, to level the playing field between the two. Yes, this was a very good development indeed. "Remus, I think we ought to have one more good look around Diagon Alley. This shop is clearly empty."

"I agree. Dumbledore does want her found as soon as possible."

Remus and Sirius headed back towards the exit. They moved quicker than Gemma could crawl or waddle. She could hear their voices, but couldn't make out the words. Realizing she couldn't keep pace with them, Gemma turned to crawl over to the main window. She figured she could watch them leave and make a quick exit as soon as they were far enough away.

Gemma wound her head around the dragon organ rack, trying her best to get as close to the window as possible. Peering out, she saw Remus's shabby robes heading back in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron, but she couldn't immediately see which direction Sirius might have headed since the streets were growing busy as the morning turned into afternoon.

"I hear dragon's liver is out of season this time of year. They are more of a winter organ, are they not?" a voice immediately behind Gemma asked casually.

She turned quickly, startled because she thought they had both left. However, she had wound herself around the rack trying to see clearly where the two had gone, and her robe sleeve caught on one of the lower perches. As she turned to quickly back out, the sleeve yanked the perch, and the entire rack of vats came crashing down on her.

Gemma didn't move as she felt the sticky and cold liquid run down her back, into her robes, and down her face. Sirius burst out laughing somewhere behind her. He must have stayed in the shop when Remus had left. He must have known she was hiding in the shop. He had tricked her.

When she felt that the last of the vats had emptied itself down her back, she finished backing away from the window, tearing fiercely at the sleeve that had been caught. She sat on the floor, turning to face Sirius.

Her hat was positively soaked. Streams of liquid came pouring from it, trailing down her face. Her robes, which had been a pleasant pastel blue color, had large streaks of dark brown all across the back and circling to the front. She huffed once and looked at Sirius Black, murder in her eyes.

Sirius was doubled over, hands on his knees, tears forming in his eyes. His smile was actually much larger than she had imagined, but it was just as dazzling as she had dreamed. He had looked up at her once, and began laughing even more forcefully than before. Gemma, despite her anger and embarrassment, felt her stomach totter at his smile and laugh. They were both better in real life than in her daydream. To be honest, if she didn't hate him right at the moment, she might have joined in.

Instead, she tried to shake off some of the excess liquid that was running down her arms and gave Sirius the most smoldering look she could muster. She wiped her eyes with the arm of her robe. Full of mortification, she tried to stand up, but she couldn't get a good grip with her feet as the liquid just made them slide out from under.

Sirius wiped the tears from his eyes and slowed his laugh a bit. "Here, let me help." He moved over to Gemma, and held out a hand. His smile never left his face and Gemma thought his eyes were daring her to take his hand.

"I don't need your help," Gemma spat as she tried again to stand. Unsuccessful, she slipped back down into the goo, this time knocking her head on the fallen rack.

"Don't be daft," Sirius said impatiently. He walked carefully closer to Gemma and grabbed her hand in his left. He bent down and put his right arm around her waist. As she stood with his help, Gemma felt her feet start to go out from under her again, but Sirius's strong arm around her waist steadied her instantly. "See, I think you need me more than you'd care to admit." He shot her a charming smirk and winked.

Gemma wished she could die. Here she was, clinging to the man she had been daydreaming about all week, and she was covered in foul smelling dragon organs. Worse still, he was making fun of her as he always was. Would there ever be a time when she wasn't embarrassing herself in front of him? Would she ever be the one with the upper hand?

He looked directly into her eyes, and Gemma's breath caught in her throat. That cold, dead gray wasn't there anymore. Right at this moment, a mirthful light shone instead. Gemma could see he was clearly enjoying himself at her expense.

"I was doing just fine before you came in, thank you very much. You had no right to sneak up behind me like that! This is your fault!"

Sirius grinned at her, lop-sided. "Oh, no you don't. You cannot blame this on me! This has your name all over it! You were the one hiding from me. If you would have been honest, none of this would have happened. And," he said, and Gemma could have sworn his grip got a little tighter around her, "I came over to rescue you. Doesn't that count for anything? Plus, I'm getting all kinds of goo all over my new clothes. I could just let you fall back down right now…but I'm too much a gentleman for that. I'd hate to see how hard it'd be for you without me."

Gemma scoffed. She quickly freed her arms from Sirius's grip. "I'll take my chances." As she turned from the mess, she kicked Sirius's left foot with the might of all her embarrassment. The force of the kick shot his foot out from under him. With surprise on his face, he struggled to keep his balance on the wet floor for a few moments, and then fell abruptly with a thud. "Now _that _you can blame on me," Gemma shot at him, not able to keep the delight from her voice.

She turned on her heels and walked calmly from the shop, feeling more satisfied than she had in a while. She exited to the street, still trying to wipe off all the excess liquid from face and robes. She needed to head over to Flourish and Blots to pick up a manual on herbology she had special ordered, but after that she was going home. She'd have to shop another time. She could feel people eyeing her and could only image what she must look like, dripping with dragon organs and smelling putrid.

"You know, this is a new shirt. I mean, brand new. I just got it this morning." Sirius came running up behind her, wiping at his left sleeve. He must have landed on his left side, because it was covered with the same sticky liquid as Gemma.

"Is this the part where I start to care? No? Well, you'll let me know when we get to that?" Gemma snapped at him. She had hoped that he would have been too furious with her to follow. "I think I saw Remus go that way," she lied, pointing in the direction opposite of Flourish and Blotts

Sirius just shot her that same lop-sided grin. "A very clever deception indeed," he sounded unimpressed, "but it won't work. I am a man on a mission," he said in a voice that begged her to reply.

Gemma tried not to respond to him though. She made up her mind to just ignore him. She wouldn't give him anymore reason to torment her. If she could just ignore him long enough, he would give up and leave her alone.

They walked along in silence down the road to Flourish and Blots. Sirius strutted silently beside her, turning his head every now and then at the sights of the street. He walked so close to her, their hands could touch. Whenever Gemma tried to add a bit of distance between them, Sirius would adjust himself so that the distance would disappear. If she turned left, he was right there with her. If she slowed, he slowed too. Finally, Gemma couldn't help herself. "What mission is that?"

Sirius smiled triumphantly as he tossed his long hair back a bit. "I've actually got two missions. My first was to find you, of course. Dumbledore has been looking for you all morning."

"Why is that?" Gemma asked interested.

Sirius ignored her question. "My second mission is to…." Suddenly he stopped talking, took Gemma by the waist, and shoved her down the nearest alley.

"What on earth are you…?" Sirius shot his hand over Gemma's mouth to stop her talking and pressed her to his side. His eyes were wide and he was staring intently at the street before them.

Gemma too looked, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"Come quickly!" Sirius whispered. He took her hand, and led her out of the alley and down the road.

He was keeping a quick pace to the point where Gemma was finding it hard to keep her breath. "What is going on?" She dodged past blurred faces, willing her feet to keep moving and not trip up.

Sirius gripped her hand harder, urging her to move faster. "You see that man up there? The one with the dark blue cape?" Gemma strained her eyes and caught a glimpse of the cape. "We cannot lose him." Sirius's voice sounded resolute, and Gemma did not speak again, instead focusing on keeping up with Sirius.

She caught several glimpses of the man, and she could tell that he was carrying a large crate on his left shoulder. After following him for a bit, Gemma realized that they had gone quite deep into Knockturn Alley. She looked around and did not recognize her surroundings at all. She gripped Sirius's hand a bit tighter.

Gemma was looking to the side, at an old crone's shop that sold some of the most highly illegal goods she had ever seen, when she ran forcefully into Sirius's back. He had stopped suddenly, and she hadn't been paying attention. He gripped her quickly and kept her from falling to the ground by pulling her close to him. The two of them ducked behind an empty booth that seemed to sell an assortment of used junk. Sirius glanced around the corner of the booth, trying to watch the man without being seen. The shop the man entered wasn't marked, but it looked dingy and dark.

"He's early! Too early!" Sirius said under is breath, anger in his voice.

Gemma tried to peek around the stall too, but Sirius merely pushed her back in. He turned to face her, a look of defeat on his face. "Well, there's nothing we can do now that he's gone inside. We need to get back to Dumbledore immediately. We'll have to try something else."

Sirius started to move from their hiding spot, but Gemma grabbed his arm. "What? What's going on?"

Sirius's glanced at the shop one more time, and ducked back behind the stall. "You saw the man we were following? Saw that he was carrying something?" Gemma nodded. "We think that the crate was full of nightfoil." Gemma gasped. Nightfoil was an extremely rare, highly dangerous, and exceedingly illegal herb. It was the primary ingredient of only the worst potions imaginable.

"One of the Order has been monitoring recent shipments to some of the Dark Arts shops here. He got wind that the Death Eaters had ordered something special so he was keeping a watch out, examining manifests and such. Early this morning, he was found unconscious and in great pain. Dumbledore has determined that he is under the effects of an Affliction potion." Gemma brought her hand to her mouth in a gasp. Affliction potions were designed to cause unbelievable pain in all the five senses. Those afflicted could know no rest as they were constantly assaulted by horrible sounds, smells, tastes, sights, and they would scream as if their very skin burned unbearably. No one had ever lived to fully detail what it felt like, what they saw or heard, but the screams of those afflicted indicated that it was the most horrible torture imaginable. "That is why Dumbledore has been looking for you. He wanted you to brew an antidote. Our own potion maker is suspiciously missing," he added with venom.

"That's impossible. No one has ever successfully brewed an antidote to Affliction." Gemma began to fool absently with the scarf around her neck. "Even if I would attempt it, one of the ingredients to the antidote is nightfoil itself. How on earth am I supposed to get that?"

"That was my second mission. Tonks and I were supposed to follow Dolohov, that man," Sirius nodded his head in the direction of the shop, "with the shipment, attack him when he was alone, and steal the crate." Sirius ducked his head back out from the stall again. He looked ruefully at the shop. "But, he came too early and he's taken the crate into that shop. Not only will we not have the nightfoil for the antidote, but he'll be selling it to every dark witch or wizard that will pay for it. Merlin only knows the damage it will cause. If only I had seen him earlier. Or if Tonks were, here, she could go in to get it. They'd know my face for sure, otherwise I'd go in myself."

Gemma, up until that point, had thought Tonks was a wizard. She felt a twinge of jealousy when she realized Tonks was in fact a witch, and that Sirius had wished she was here. She must be brave and capable if he thought she could just go right in and get the nightfoil. Gemma bet that right now he was cursing himself for having the demeaning job of finding merely a silly healer, especially when she had now lost him his prize. In the same way she couldn't keep herself from thinking of him, she couldn't help but want to impress him.

"How much money do you have on you?" Gemma asked quickly, emptying out her own pockets onto the street below. She dropped down to her knees to sort all her coins out. She was carrying quite a bit of money as she was intending to buy a large amount to refill her stores at the Hospital.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sirius asked, recrimination in his voice. He obviously thought she was just a huge waste of time.

"I'm going to need all the money we've got if I'm going to buy any nightfoil," Gemma responded perturbed, and continued counting her galleons.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "There is no way I'm letting you go in there."

Gemma met his gray eyes, her purple ones blazing. "The way I see it, you don't have a choice. We need nightfoil. It is in that store, for sale, right now. You can't go in, no one else is here. I don't see any other options. Do you?" She motioned for him to start adding money to the pile. "We need to act quickly."

Sirius couldn't help but grin at her in wonder. She was right though; if they didn't act now, it would be too late. "So now we are 'we'? Working as a team?" he jested. Despite the danger he knew he'd be putting her in, he couldn't help but feel energized by the thrill of plotting a mission with her.

"Money! Now!" she responded, a touch of humor in her voice. Sirius knelt down next to her and emptied his own pockets. He watched her silently as she counted.

"You don't have to do this you know? We can find another way."

Gemma could feel his eyes on her. She did not look up, but instead continued counting. "I think we might have enough. I was hoping for a bit more, but this should do."

"Gemma," Sirius said softly.

She looked up from the coins and met his eyes. "There isn't anything to decide, Sirius. It's nearly afternoon already. Your friend will be dead if we don't get the antidote brewing soon."

"You sure you are up to this?"

Gemma straightened her shoulders, willing the fear she felt to not show in her eyes. "Are you kidding? After handling, you, I feel ready for anything. They'll probably just give me the stuff as some kind of consolation prize for having to put up with you!"

Instead of laughing, Sirius locked his yes with hers. That same light was still there. It wasn't as bright as when he had been laughing at her, but his eyes weren't that dead cold anymore. Gemma liked them best this way. His eyes trailed to her lips and he moved closer to her. Gemma's heart started to beat so rapidly she could swear he would hear it. He was so close that Gemma could feel the warmth of his body. Gemma couldn't believe this was happening and she wondered if perhaps she was just in an elaborate daydream.

Suddenly, a stream of the liquid from the dragon organs trailed into her eye and down her cheek, forcing her to squint her eye in pain. Her hat was still soaking wet, and it seemed to be leaking a large amount of the liquid down on her again. Sirius backed off a second, then brought up his sleeve and wiped the liquid from her face. His eyes didn't meet hers again.

"That reminds me, you can't go into the shop looking like that."

Gemma's arms broke out in goosebumps as the heat from his body left her. She tried to clear her head. "What's wrong with the way I look? I'm dirty enough. I should look like I fit right in!" She chuckled as she looked around the alley they were in and the shop they were facing. Nearly everything in Knockturn Alley looked filthy.

Sirius smiled at her. "Well, you've got a point there. But, your robes and scarf aren't really what dark witches wear. You look like you shop at the same place as Gilderoy Lockhart. Did you get him to sign your scarf?"

"Ha, ha." Gemma rolled her eyes at him. She looked down at her blue robes. "I see what you mean though. But what can we do about it? It's not like I brought anything else with me."

Sirius took out his wand, and waved it at Gemma. Her robes grew longer, and the light blue color started to grow darker. She noticed that the neckline began to plunge and the robes were growing tighter and tighter. "Sirius Black!"

He waved his wand at her again, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He held up his hands in mock surrender. "You can't blame a man for trying." Her robes grew back to their normal size, but a solid, deep black color replaced the blue.

He walked over to her, circling around to survey is work. "You know, I never thought that charm would ever come in handy. Scourgify!" He waved his wand and Gemma could feel herself become free from the ooze and smell. "Those smudges on your face were really starting to bother me." Gemma blushed, and another drop of the liquid fell from her hat.

"That hat is going to have to go," Sirius said, reaching out for it. "It's just soaked and I'm not good enough with a cleaning spell to get rid of all the gunk. It's messing up my work!" Gemma shot her hand up to smack Sirius's away before he could grab her hat, but she was too slow and she felt him whisk the hat from her head.

A sheet of long, silvery white hair fell to just past her waist. Sirius's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You know, I wear hats for a reason, Black! You had no right to do that!" She wrenched the hat from Sirius's hands, and began to wring it out. She had no intention of ever going anywhere without her hat on.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought you just wore them to be cute and because they matched your scarves! How was I supposed to know you were hiding all that hair? It's a normal sized hat," Sirius replied, eyes never leaving Gemma's hair.

"I put a charm on it so that it would all fit, not that I should explain myself to you! What business is it of yours what I do with my hats?" Gemma felt perturbed. She hated for people to see her hair. It was so white, she felt it made her look years older. And, as if the color weren't bad enough, she couldn't do anything about the length. It would have been easier to hide short white hair, and she might even have had the option of wearing it freely without looking odd. However, in an attempt to fix the color years ago when she was still in school, the charm she had used had backfired. Now every time she cut her hair, it merely grew back longer than before seconds later, leading to its current length. She had been teased terribly about it all while in school, and still felt self-conscious about it.

"You shouldn't hide it. It's beautiful," Sirius said in a near whisper. Gemma stopped wringing out her hat to look Sirius in the eye. His hand hovered a bit from his side, as if wanting to touch her hair. He blinked suddenly and lowered his hand. He cleared his throat loudly. "That is to say, I think it'll go beautifully with your robes here. And with your eyes like that it'll really give you the impression of being a…" He stopped.

Gemma looked down. "Go ahead and say it."

"Say what?" Sirius tried to ask innocently.

"It's nothing that I haven't heard before. Purple eyes, white hair, black robes. Just say what's on your mind. It'll really give me the impression of being a dark witch. I'll fit right in."

"That's not what I said, Gemma."

She turned from him to look down the alley, toward the shop. "It's what you were going to say. It's what they all say."

Sirius couldn't think of what to say back to her. He hadn't thought of how hard it might have really been for her to look so odd. He had thought her lovely from the moment he saw her, but there must have been others who thought the opposite.

"I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean it like that."

"Let's just drop it. Help me pick up the coins and let's get this over with." Gemma turned back around and knelt down over the coins. She was careful to avoid Sirius's eyes. She wished she hadn't overreacted like that, but she couldn't help it. In all the names she had been called, being teased that she had been evil or dark had hurt her the most. Still, she cursed herself for being so sensitive about it all these years later. She and Sirius had nearly kissed, or so she thought, moments before, and now she had yelled at him and brought things right back to square one.

She was dumping the last of the coins into her purse, trying to think in her head what she would do and say once she got in the shop, when Sirius's voice broke through her thoughts. "You're going to have to take your scarf off too," he said as politely and quietly as Gemma had heard him speak before.

She was thankful for his hesitance, but she did not meet his eyes as she undid her scarf. She looked up to see if he was staring at her scar, but his eyes met and held hers.

"I'm going to be right outside the shop the whole time, looking in the window." Gemma raised an eyebrow. "In my animagus form," Sirius explained. "If you need me, for any reason, even if you just feel uncomfortable, rub your hand across your forehead from your right temple to your left, like this," Sirius took Gemma's hand and led it across her forehead, his own fingers brushing her skin, "and I'll come right in. Okay?" He kept her hand in his and squeezed it.

Gemma nodded.

"You know you don't really have to do this? I'm not asking you to do this." Gemma nodded again, still holding Sirius's eyes. "Ok, let's get this over with." He squeezed her hand again and pulled her gently up with him. "Let me have one last look at you."

He took a few steps back from Gemma, and looked her up and down, that mischievous light in his eyes. "Not bad. I mean, with such short notice and all. You will have to look meaner though. Think of something that really makes you mad, really just ticks you off."

Gemma smirked at him, mirroring the mischievous glint in her own eye, making her look a bit more dangerous than she had before. She smoothed out her hair, pulling it so it all flowed over her left shoulder. "I guess I'll just have to think of you." She headed out into the alley, and walked confidently up to the shop.

Sirius whispered quietly to himself, "I wish," and quickly transformed into Padfoot to hurry after Gemma. He walked straight up to the shop window and put his front paws on the sill so that he could lean in and look.

Gemma walked slowly around the perimeter of the shop as if browsing. She picked up a few bottles here and there, but never one for very long. She had been in the shop for nearly five minutes and hadn't even approached the front desk. Sirius was getting worried that she might have chickened out, when the owner of the shop finally got up and walked over to Gemma.

Sirius's laughed to himself as he watched Gemma. She was doing a perfect job of keeping a disdainful and haughtily look on her face as the shopkeeper fawned at her. He thought she must have been using himself as inspiration. She looked thoroughly uninterested, and the more bored she looked, the more the shopkeeper danced around, showing her all he had to offer in his shop. It looked as if Gemma and the shopkeeper were keeping up a conversation on what she might be looking for as they walked through the store, picking up and putting back potion after potion.

Suddenly, the shopkeeper motioned to the back of the store and stepped to the side, as if expecting Gemma to move forward. Gemma moved calmly forward in the direction the shopkeeper had indicated. Sirius looked ahead and saw what appeared to be a door in the very back of the store. He watched intently to see if she would glance to the window or move her hands to her head. She did neither, but instead walked confidently to the door and waited for the shopkeeper to open it. They stepped into the back room and the door closed behind them.

Sirius wasn't going to let her out of his sight. He was about to transform and storm in, when he saw Dolohov and two other Death Eaters emerge from another room on the second floor of the shop. They walked down and entered the room that Gemma and the shopkeeper had gone into.

Sirius's heart started beating wildly. What had he done? He had sent a Healer into one of the darkest shops in Knockturn Alley. She probably had no training in the Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was not an auror. She was not even a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She was totally unprepared for fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and yet he had allowed her to risk her life doing just that. He cursed himself for being so foolish.

He wanted to rush in and save her, but he didn't think he could take Dolohov, two Death Eaters, and the shopkeeper at the same time while trying to keep Gemma safe.

The only thing he could think to do was to go back up to Diagon Alley and get Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. He bounded up the alley, praying in his heart that Gemma would remain undiscovered until at least he and the others could return. Once he felt himself out of sight, he morphed into his human form and apparated back to Diagon Alley.

Unfortunately, Diagon Alley had grown crowded as the morning turned to afternoon, and Sirius could barely make out a single face in the sea of witches and wizards before him. He rushed back to the apothecary, hoping to at least find Remus there. When he had no luck, he ran to all the most well-known shops. He knew they should still be looking for Gemma as none of them knew he had found her. After nearly fifteen minutes of a fruitless search, Sirius began to panic.

He was about to turn back now, convinced he should have never left her when suddenly the three of them were in front of him.

"There you are Sirius! We've been looking for you everywhere. We haven't been able to spot Gemma anywhere. I don't think she's here," Tonks said tiredly, casually looking around.

Sirius started talking rapidly. "I found Gemma. She's trapped in a room with Death Eaters. We have to move quickly. I left her nearly fifteen minutes ago to find you guys. Quick, down Knockturn Alley. She's in a shop at the rear."

"What on earth is she doing there?" Remus asked with annoyance in his voice. He looked at Sirius as if he knew that they had been up to something.

"None of that matters now. We have to hurry." Sirius pushed Remus in the direction of Knockturn Alley and motioned for the others to follow him

They were about to enter the start of Knockturn Alley, when Sirius spotted Gemma running from the alley. She looked a bit frightened and frazzled, and her long hair had become slightly knotted at the ends, but other than that, she seemed fine.

Gemma's head was turning from side to side rapidly, as if she didn't know what to do.

"Gemma!" Sirius yelled as he ran over to Gemma. The others followed him closely.

"You left me!" Gemma yelled as Sirius came forward. "You wanker!" She took a swing at him, but he dodged quickly out of the way.

"Hey now! I left to get help!" He grabbed her wrist as she made to swing at him again. "I didn't realize there would be more than one Death Eater there. I'm sorry. I should never have let you go in there," he said in a remorseful tone. He looked Gemma in the face. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily. He guessed she had run all the way here from the shop. He met her eyes. "I am sorry."

Gemma met his gaze furiously. "Next time you promise to stay with me, you better do it!" She ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly as she noticed the others staring at it. "Lucky for you, one of us is good on our word." Gemma fumbled beneath her black robes and produced a small brown package.

"Is that?" Sirius asked, astonished.

Gemma shot him a satisfied smirk. "When the shopkeeper led me to the back, he showed me some of the nightfoil. We had money to buy more than enough, I think."

Tonks moved forward and eyed the package as Gemma unwrapped it discreetly. The dark gray flowering stems of the nightfoil seemed to wither a bit in the sunlight. Gemma quickly refolded the paper.

"I don't understand. Did Gemma say she bought it? I didn't think buying our fair share was the plan?" Kingsley put in, his deep voice booming with a slight bit of anger.

"Dolohov was early. I had just found Gemma when I saw him walking toward Knockturn Alley with a crate which I figured was filled with the nightfoil. Gemma and I followed him to a shop near the end of the Alley. I knew it would be too late to steal it once he entered the shop, but I wouldn't have stood a chance if I attacked him alone in Knockturn Alley. Too many there would have rushed to his aid." He pointed to Gemma. "I explained to Gemma why we needed the nightfoil. She said that there was no way we could leave without it. We knew I would be recognized as soon as I entered the shop, so Gemma volunteered to go in and try to buy some." Sirius grinned lopsidedly. "Looks like she was the lady for the job after all. We, of course, had to do a bit of image enhancement. She didn't look much like a dark witch in her Lockhart duds." That mischievous gleam was back in his eyes.

Gemma blushed a bit and tried to avert her eyes. She felt the others stare at her. She hadn't been out in public with her hair free in years, and she never left home without a scarf on. Now, here she was, standing in Diagon Alley with her hair uncovered, her scar fully revealed, and she could feel the eyes on her.

Kingsley continued, "That's bad luck that he came early. It was as important to destroy the shipment as it was to get our hands on some. These will be some dark times now that there is nightfoil being sold to whoever can pay. We'll have to be ten times more careful." Remus nodded in agreement.

"Well, that sort of won't be a problem," Gemma said slowly. The four of them looked at her. "I kinda _accidentally_ flicked my wand and a lantern fell on the crate. After I made my own purchase, of course. And," she fumbled again inside her robes, "while he was busy trying to put out the fire…which mysteriously grew stronger the more water was poured on it," she grinned, "…I made a copy of this." She handed a small book to Kingsley. The cover was blank.

"And what is this?" he asked, turning it in his hands.

Gemma shrugged. "I have no idea. That man, Dolohov I guess, was carrying it around with him the whole time. I figured it might be important, so I charmed a copy."

Remus started laughing, amazed. "Let me see if I've got this straight. You managed to get more than enough of the highly prohibited ingredient we need. You also managed to destroy our enemy's supply of same. And, as if that weren't enough, in one morning, knowing nothing of what we have been struggling for weeks to do, you managed to get a copy of the manifests that Mundungus was poisoned trying to get?"

Gemma's eyes darkened. "This is what he was trying to get when he was Afflicted?" Remus nodded. "Well, I mean," she cleared her throat nervously, "it's only a copy." She had no idea what she had just gotten herself into. Things were getting more dangerous that she had ever imagined. Why had she been stupid enough to try and copy the book? She shifted her feet nervously. "And I was in a hurry too, so it's not even a good copy. I mean, I hope I got at least some important stuff. It's been so long since I've tried a copy charm, I'm sure it's a poor job."

Remus, sensing how uncomfortable she was becoming, moved forward and gave her a comforting hug. Gemma was thankful for the support as she was feeling a bit light headed. What if those Death Eaters recognized her? Would they come after her? Would they know she was the one who took the book? They'd certainly want someone to pay for what they had lost.

"Are you kidding? This is more than we could have hoped for. Well done, Gemma! It's fantastic! Isn't it?" Remus pulled away from their hug and turned to Sirius.

"Brilliant," Sirius said sourly. If Remus Lupin wasn't a friend of his, he might just have knocked his head off.

"Super," Tonks had added with as much distaste as Sirius when Remus had turned to her.

"I don't know, Gemma. This copy looks pretty thorough," Kingsley jumped in, thumbing through the pages. "You seem to be right brilliant at copy charms."

Gemma rushed over and grabbed the book from him, flipping through the pages herself. Her eyes widened. She looked up at Sirius sheepishly. "Or maybe I accidentally took the original and left him the copy. How sharp are Death Eaters," she cocked her head, "generally speaking?"

Right as she asked this, as if on cue, a burst of red light streaked past them all, grazing Gemma's cheek. Blood quickly sprang up on the line the light had cut. Gemma cried out in pain and dropped the book of manifests.

"There she is! She's working with the Order," Dolohov shouted, as he pointed over to where they were all standing. "Kill them! Get the book and the herbs." He flicked his wand again in their direction.

Gemma would have been hit in the middle of her chest, but Sirius dove forward and shoved her to the ground. He grabbed her by the waist and led her to hide behind a merchant's stall. Diagon Alley had erupted in chaos as the Death Eaters began flinging curses left and right. Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley were fighting back.

Sirius reached up to Gemma's cheek and rubbed his shirt-sleeve across her cut. "You're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch," Gemma said absently. Here she was, for the second time today, crouched hiding behind a stall with Sirius. If she wasn't in mortal peril, she might actually laugh about it. "I'm so sorry," she said her voice low, as she pulled her wand from her robes.

"What?" Sirius asked, as he too brought his wand out.

Gemma looked at him, her eyes shinning. "This is my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and trying to play the hero, none of this would have happened. I could have left that shop with the nightfoil bought and paid for, and left it at that. But I just had to cause more trouble, and now I've really mucked things up."

Sirius took her head in his hands, and forced her to look at him. "You did a great thing. That nightfoil free in the hands of dark witches and wizards would have caused much more havoc than this. And getting a copy of the manifests was genius on your part. And wow we know we need to practice on your technique for next time. Leaving the copy was a tad bit sloppy," he winked at her, "but you'll get better. I give you a seven of ten."

Gemma grinned weakly at him. "Only seven?"

He let go of her face, and edged around the corner of the stall, his wand at the ready. "You would have gotten at least a nine if you had worn the other robes." He grinned at her one last time, before he burst out to join in the dueling.

Gemma felt the heat rise in her cheeks again. She would have found him very charming if she didn't already think he was arrogantly annoying. She peeked around the stall herself, watching Sirius fight for a moment, when she saw the book in the middle of the Alley. She cursed herself for dropping it. Could she do nothing right today?

She craned her head left and right, to see if the coast was clear. She would just run out into the middle of the street, in between curses and hexes flying madly from both sides, and pick the manifests back up. No problem. She ran through in her head the various shield spells and hex deflections she knew before finally taking a deep breath and throwing herself out from behind the stall.

People will still running madly around, trying to escape the scene of the battle. Some had joined in, and it seemed that a few from Knockturn Alley had come out to join the fray as well. Green, purple, and red smoke filled the road and there were a few small fires around her. Gemma became immediately disorientated. She could see flashes of light in all colors shoot past her, sometimes only just missing her, people were running into her constantly, knocking her off course and pushing her in different directions. The smell of the smoke was making her light-headed.

"Gemma! What are you doing?" She heard Sirius yell at her. She had thought he was to her left, but she heard his voice to the right. She had been totally turned around. She tried to use his voice to guide her, moving closer to where she had heard it. "Gemma!" he shouted again. Gemma saw a purple light flash past her, and it hit the nearest Death Eater, who had been targeting her. "Gemma, get out of here now!" Sirius yelled at her again.

"I have to get the book!" She yelled back to him. She looked around desperately, searching for the book. Someone must have kicked it as they ran away, because she couldn't find it where it should have been. She was sure she was in the exact spot she had seen it in before. Spinning in circles, her eyes darting everywhere, she finally spotted it. As she ran toward it, a funny kind of pain coursed through her body. She couldn't really describe what it felt like. It was like a strong tingle that hurt, like an unbearable itch she couldn't scratch. She fell to the ground, her head buzzing. She must have been shot with some sort of stunning spell.

"No, no, my pretty. This book is mine," Gemma heard Dolohov's voice nearby. She shook her head, trying to clear the stars. She tried to get to her feet, but her legs felt like noodles. She couldn't get them to support her. She could hear Dolovhov's footsteps growing closer. She raised her wand feebly and flicked it at Dolohov. To her chagrin, purple bubbles shot from her wand.

She shut her eyes fiercely. "This can't be happening. Not now!" She started crawling away, dragging herself, and she raised her wand again. This time, blue light shot from it, and landed to the right of Dolohov's feet. She cursed herself. From the age of fourteen onward, she had not been able to control her powers when casting offensive and defensive spells. She had trained with Dumbledore for ages, sometimes even over the summer when she was at school, yet she never seemed able to get them to work properly. This was one reason why she chose healing and potion and antidote making: it was one thing her crazy powers couldn't mess up.

Dolohov let out a crazed laugh. "I had expected you to put up more of a fight than this if you are with the Order. One petty little stun and you can't even get up? Can't even cast a spell, little Squib? What kind of trash is the Order recruiting these days? Children at Hogwarts would do better than you."

Gemma felt her anger rising. She tried to calm herself and concentrate like Dumbledore had taught her, but as she heard his voice mocking her, her anger just grew and grew. She waved her wand again, and a bouquet of flowers shot out. Dolohov laughed mercilessly.

She couldn't stand to be made fun of and she was embarrassed that at this most crucial moment, when it came down to saving her own life, she was powerless. She willed herself to be strong. She tried again to get her feet out from under her. "I guess I shouldn't even expect you to be able to shield yourself? That will take the fun out of some of this. But your screams will entertain me." He was standing over now, as she finally managed to get to her feet. He had raised his wand up, and Gemma was about to perform a shield charm, when a shot of purple light hit Dolohov in the back. He jolted forward with a great force.

Sirius was standing not far from her, fury in his eyes, his chest heaving. She had no idea what he had used, but it had been a powerful spell. "You all right?" he yelled over to her, as concern filled his voice and eyes. He lowered his wand as he started to walk over to Gemma.

Gemma was about to respond, when she saw one of the other Death Eaters, a female with dark hair, come out of nowhere to Sirius's left side. The Death Eater raised her wand, and Gemma knew that Sirius hadn't even noticed she was there. Without thinking, Gemma raised her own wand, and with as much force as she could muster, concentrating in the manner Dumbledore had taught her, she shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

A blinding light flashed in front of Gemma, so bright she had to squint her eyes. She could not see what happened. She heard a loud explosion and felt the street beneath her shake a bit. When the light faded and her eyes readjusted, she saw Sirius still standing in the middle of the street, and the black-haired Death Eater was some twenty feet away, unconscious in the road.

Sirius had a bewildered look on his face. He stood still for a moment, his eyes fixed on Gemma. After a moment, he shook himself as if trying to get rid of his daze. He ran forward, grabbed the book from the ground near where Gemma was standing. He rushed back over to Gemma. "Take this. You still have the nightfoil?" Gemma nodded. "You need to get out of here. Start brewing the antidote. Go somewhere safe, but somewhere we'll be able to find you soon."

Gemma nodded, still somewhat numb from what had just happened. She hadn't meant to attack the Death Eater like that. She only wanted to stop her, not hurt her. Gemma's wand hand tingled. "I can go to my office at St. Mungo's. I should have a book with the instructions for the antidote and all the materials I might need."

"Good. Go. We'll follow as soon as we can." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. He wiped her face with his shirt sleeve again. "Be careful?"

"You too," Gemma said quickly, and with a pop, she apparated.

Sirius quickly rejoined Remus and Tonks, who were chasing Dolohov and the other Death Eater as they fled. They had managed to follow the two around a couple of turns, but lost them quickly. They had returned to the scene to catch the last Death Eater, the dark-haired Bellatrix Lestrange that Gemma had taken care of, but she too was gone.

When the three of them finally stopped to catch their breaths, Remus and Sirius exchanged glances. "Did you see what Gemma did?" Remus asked, trying to keep his voice even.

"Yes! She saved my life!" Sirius said defensively.

"That was a pretty powerful disarming spell, you'll have to admit. It had quite a bit of force behind it," Remus said, a strained look on his face.

Tonks joined in. "Her eyes kinda turned white when she did it too. And it looked like the tips of her hair turned black. Did you see it? Maybe she's a metamorphmagus too?" she added doubtfully.

Sirius merely frowned and said nothing. None of them wanted to say it, but it wasn't normal and he doubted very much that she was a metamorphmagus. Although maybe that was why her appearance was so odd? Maybe she was a metamorphmagus and couldn't control it? She hadn't been able to control her magic to attack Dolohov. Sirius had seen her shoot a bouquet out at him. That is why he rushed over in the first place.

But then she obviously could control it as she had saved him by attacking his dear cousin. And, her appearance had shifted. That was not normal. She and Dumbledore were clearly hiding something bigger than he could have imagined. That must have been why she was reluctant to help the Order. Maybe she and Dumbledore were trying to her under the radar?

All he knew was that he now had a very bad feeling about getting her involved. Remus had been right: they should have respected her desire to stay out of it. Instead, they had thrust her in the middle. The Death Eaters would surely talk about what she had done. Voldemort would learn that a mysterious, powerful witch had helped the Order, and he would grow curious. What would he try to do? What revenge would he seek on a woman who had hindered an important scheme of his? And, most important to Sirius, would anyone be able to stop him?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the world in which they live. I intend no infringement upon J.K. Rowling's rights. I only ask that she let me borrow her creations for a little while. I promise to put everything back the way I found it!

Chapter 4:

Gemma's eyes were nearly crossing in concentration as she stared at her scales, carefully weighing out the nightfoil. According to _Unspeakable Concoctions_ by Arsenius Jigger, even a fraction more of the nightfoil than indicated would turn the antidote into poison. The scales were just about tipped properly, and she was adding it in nearly imperceptible amounts to meet the instruction exactly. Gemma had never before attempted a potion that required such exact specifications, and she found it mentally exhausting.

Of course, it didn't help that she was so jumpy. At every sound she would stop what she was doing and stand motionless, her wand at the ready, until she was sure no one was there. She didn't know if any of the Death Eaters could have followed her, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

Gemma stepped back to her chair and flopped down in it tiredly. She was hoping that eyeing the scales from a distance would help. From what she could tell, she had measured out the nightfoil as perfect as she could get it. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, leaning back into the chair for support on her aching back. She opened her eyes again and blinked them rapidly. They felt strained and had started to sting, and Gemma could feel a strong headache forming. She held out her hands in front of her, turning them over. Her fingertips burned from handling the nightfoil, and they looked raw and red. From what she had read, even external contact with the nightfoil was poisonous, and the headache and fatigue she was feeling were only the start of her symptoms. Once she actually started brewing the antidote, the fumes and vapors would probably only add to her problems.

She rose tiredly from her chair, and hurried back over to her cauldron. She didn't have the time to take a break. Or, at least, that poor man Mundungus didn't have the time for her to take a break. He had been under the effects of an Affliction Potion for over twelve hours. Gemma shuddered to think of what twelve hours like that must be like. No one had lived a full twenty-four hours after being Afflicted. Gemma only had reason to act as quickly as possible.

Fortunately according to Jigger, the antidote did not take very long to brew. The most time consuming part was gathering all the somewhat unusual ingredients and preparing them in such exact amounts. Gemma had everything she needed in her stores at the hospital too, so that had made things even easier.

All in all, she felt she was making very good time. She had measured out all her ingredients and was in fact, about ready to start the first stages of brewing. Gemma couldn't help but be surprised that no one from the Order had come to check on her yet. She had been sure they would have been here by now. Hadn't Sirius said he would be following as soon as they were finished?

She tried to clear Sirius and the rest from her mind, reminding herself that she would need her full concentration if she were to succeed in brewing this antidote. She rubbed her fingertips on a cloth by her cauldron, trying to get the burning to stop. She waved her wand over her table, rearranging things so she could work more easily. The antidote had to be brewed in three separate batches, each time adding different reagents, so she sorted out her ingredients into three different piles according to when they would be used. She had started the fire under her cauldron earlier to preheat it, and she dripped in a bit of dewlilly essence to test it. The essence bubbled and steamed, so Gemma knew the cauldron was ready. With a steady hand, she began adding the components of the first stage of the antidote.

After adding her entire stock of firebloom, a somewhat rare herb that she had been lucky to get her hands on the first place, the first stage of the potion was ready to simmer. She would need to stir it one-hundred and eighty seven degrees every four minutes, with an extra counter-clockwise sixty-seven degree stir every third stir. Gemma ran her eyes down her supplies for the second brewing, and after ensuring she had everything ready, she sat down for a moment, hoping that at least four minutes of rest would offer her some relief.

Her eyes had started to water as the stinging in them worsened, and the burning in her fingertips had spread now so that her entire hands burned and itched. The redness was also spreading. The pain in her head was just a dull one, so at least one thing did not seem to be worsening. The second stage of brewing, however, was when she would be adding the nightfoil and she knew that that was when the real fun would be starting.

As she stirred her final clockwise turn, Gemma stopped for a moment. She thought she had heard one of the doors to a nearby ward slam hard. She strained her ears, but couldn't make out any other sounds. She turned her eyes back to her antidote. She didn't have time to stop if she were going to brew the potion correctly. She next needed to strain this first batch and add a thickening agent before beginning the second brew.

Gemma lifted the cauldron with her wand, and began straining the liquid. When she was done, she added the thickening agent and then continued adding the required elements of the second brew. Her shoulders were tensed and she found herself holding her breath more than once. Gemma was growing more nervous as she pressed on. There was no turning back now. She did not have enough ingredients to try another brew. If she didn't get it right, if she messed up at all, there would be no way to recover the antidote. Gemma found she could barely keep her hands steady as she added the nightfoil.

Once she had added the final ingredient of the second brew, she charmed her wooden spoon to keep stirring, two large counterclockwise turns, then a clockwise turn. The potion had to be stirred constantly at this stage or the thickening agent would cause it too stiffen. The second brew needed to simmer for fifteen minutes before it too would be strained and Gemma could start the third and final brew.

She sat in her chair again and closed her eyes. She wanted to rub her head, but her hands were burning to the point of feeling numb, and whenever she touched anything, it magnified the pain. Instead, she laid her arms across the arms of her chair so that her hands hung freely in the air, not touching anything.

The fumes from the potion were making her feel lightheaded, as if the constant pounding in her head weren't enough. The antidote had started emitting a dark gray smoke as soon as she had added the nightfoil. The smoke was filling the room and was actually starting to obstruct some of the light in the room. Gemma was glad she had thought ahead enough to get all her ingredients ready in the beginning, because she sure wouldn't have wanted to be cleaning red skrull pustules in this dim light. She did wish she had a window in her office though, because it would have been nice if she could have had a bit of fresh air. If she wasn't concerned for her own life, she might have at least opened the door to her office.

As soon as she thought of the door, she heard the knob jingle. She shot to her feet and held her wand at the ready, ignoring the burning sensation in her wand hand. She could hear faint voices near the door, and she edged closer trying to listen. She had used her charm to keep the door locked so no one would be able to sneak in without her knowing.

"Scatters," Gemma heard someone say on the other side of the door.

The knob jingled again. "I thought you said you knew the pass code since the two of you are such pals," a second voice said curtly.

"You aren't helping. I could have sworn it was Scatters. Maybe it was Scritters?"

The knob jingled again. "Third time perhaps the charm?" the second voice sounded faintly amused.

Relief flooded Gemma. Sirius and Remus were bickering just outside her door. She pointed her wand at the door. "Skittles!"

Sirius turned the knob the moment he heard the lock turn and he and Remus rushed in. Both of them made sour faces as they entered and were hit with the fumes from the potion. Sirius shut the door quickly.

"All right?" he asked, concern in his voice. His hair was wild and a bit knotted. Remus also looked disheveled.

"Yes, you?" Gemma responded, curiously looking at them both. She had left them nearly four hours ago. Certainly they hadn't been dueling with the Death Eaters the whole time?

"Couldn't be better. How goes the antidote making?" There was a note of urgency in this voice. Gemma did not detect even a glint of the playfulness he usually used with her.

"It'll probably take about twenty more minutes after I add the last components."

"Twenty?" Remus asked as if disappointed. "I don't know if we have twenty."

"Is the man in really terrible shape? I've been going as fast as I can. The stirring pattern in this last brew is the most complicated I've ever seen. There's no way I'll be able to rush it." Gemma could feel herself growing even more lightheaded, and she placed a hand painfully on her desk to steady herself.

Sirius sighed and walked over to where the antidote was brewing. He made a horrible face as he looked into the cauldron. "That's not the issue. We may have a problem here. We'll need to leave as soon as possible once the antidote is complete."

"We may have a problem here," she repeated slowly. "What does that mean?" Remus and Sirius looked at one another briefly, but said nothing.

"There have been some developments lately. We can't get into that now. Remus and I had to clear some things up with the Ministry, which took a bit of time, or we would have been here sooner. When we were done, we flew straight over."

"Flew? Why didn't you just apparate to the hospital? And what do you mean, 'developments'?" Gemma asked as she moved over to her cauldron. It was nearly time to start the sieving process on the second brew.

"While we were at the Ministry, we heard they had reason to cast several anti-apparation jinxes. There is one in the area around the Hospital now," Remus said cautiously, but offered nothing more. It seemed the two of them still were not going to answer her questions about the 'developments.'

Gemma couldn't believe there was an anti-apparation jinx around St. Mungo's right now. It was a rather drastic move by the Ministry, and Sirius's and Remus's urgent behavior only added to her unease. She flicked her wand and starting straining the second brew. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Why are we in such a hurry? And why was it necessary to cast an anti-apparation jinx?"

"We can explain it later. Where's the nearest window on this floor?" Remus butted in.

Gemma stared at him strangely for a moment before responding. "There's a window in the ward two doors down, on the left."

"I'll go see if it will work. I'll signal them if it's ok." Remus left the room.

"Should I even ask? Or will the two of you be as vague as you have been?" Gemma was feeling a bit perturbed that they were keeping her in the dark. She finished the straining and began adding the contents of the final brew. The hazy smoke was lighter now, but the smell was still strong. Her eyes were burning and tearing, and it felt now like her hands were on fire.

"Well, we can't apparate out, we can't walk, and the floo isn't connected there. We'll be flying out as soon as you are done. We've got a few others outside that will escort us to Mundungus."

Gemma gasped so hard she choked. "Fly?"

"Yes, on broomsticks. Ginny Weasley was kind enough to lend us hers for you. You remember her, the young red-headed girl from that night at the Hospital?"

"Yes, I realize you meant fly on broomsticks. What you don't understand is that I'm a terrible flyer."

"I'm not asking to you do any fancy maneuvers. It'll be flying in a straight line. Even children can fly in straight lines," he answered, dismissing her.

Gemma squinted her eyes in pain again. The pounding in her head was fierce and she felt like all the skin on her hands had been burned off. And here he was, ignoring all of it and speaking to her like a child.

"I'm going to see how Remus and the others are doing. You'll be fine here? Nearly done?"

Gemma merely nodded, as Sirius left the room. Things were going to get too complicated with the potion making for her to be worrying about what they would or wouldn't tell her.

She completed the composition of the final brew and willed her hands to stop burning as she began the complicated stirring patterns of the final brew. Her book had several illustrations for the patterns, and she kept one eye on the book and the other on her cauldron. While following the motions set forth in the instructions, Gemma's mind began to wander. Why were they being so gruff and vague with her? Why wouldn't they explain why the Ministry cast an anti-apparation jinx around the Hospital? Hadn't she proved herself trustworthy enough? She had saved their hides on more than one occasion. Yet, they were acting toward her like she was some kind of hindrance. Why hadn't she been able to complete a super-complicated potion in record time? Why couldn't she understand their simple plans without having to ask questions? Adding to her frustration, Gemma felt so light-headed that she was seeing stars.

Remus and Sirius reentered her office right as she was taking the cauldron from the fire.

"Everything looks good. It's been twenty now. You set?" Remus asked from the doorway.

"Just one last sieve and I'll pour it into a vial." Gemma tried to keep the annoyance from her voice. The three of them remained silent as Gemma finished sieving. The thick, mahogany liquid filled the vial halfway. She put a stopper on the top and turned to Sirius and Remus, placing the antidote in her robes.

"Well done, Gemma. Let's go," Remus said brusquely. He and Sirius rushed from her office. Gemma walked to the doorway and took one last look back. The place looked a mess. She had ripped her shelves apart looking for everything she needed, knocking potions and vials about, some even lay scattered on the floor. She had also made quite a mess while preparing the various ingredients so there were all kinds of smudges and stains about the room as well.

Gemma was about to leave when she noticed the book of manifests sitting in the middle of her desk. She cursed herself for nearly losing it again. She rushed forward and shoved the book into her robes, careful not to smash the antidote she had stuffed in as well. Sirius's charm had long since worn off, so her robes were again a pastel blue color, with some of the dragon organ goo still smeared on them.

Gemma ran to the room a few doors down. Standing by the window was not only Sirius and Remus, but a man with a terribly mangled face and a fake eye, and the dark-haired boy she had seen with Dumbledore the other night. They were all holding broomsticks, and the dark haired boy held two.

"You have it?" The man with the eye asked. Gemma had thought the fresh air of the room would clear her head, but instead she could feel the corners of her eyes start to darken, and she felt near to fainting. She merely nodded at the man, afraid her voice would shake if she tried to speak.

"Let's get moving then. Harry, give her the broom. Gemma, just keep up with us."

The dark-haired boy moved forward. Gemma thought that the boy might be Harry Potter but she couldn't be sure. He handed her the broom, and glanced at her red, raw hands. He turned back to the window and saw that the others had all already flown out. He and Gemma were alone.

"Your hands! Are you all right? Will you be able to fly?" he asked, concerned.

Gemma took the broom in her hands, trying to ignore the excruciating pain. "It's just from handling the nightfoil. They feel fine," she lied. "We'd better get going."

Harry moved to the window, mounted his broom, and kicked off. Gemma walked to the window and looked out. The men were circling the hospital, glancing at the window. She looked down at her hands, which could barely stand to hold the broom. She already wasn't a good flyer, and if she couldn't even grip the broom properly, she could only imagine how hard it would be. She hoped they didn't have far to go.

Harry was hovering just outside the window. She mounted her broom, kicked off, and flew slowly out the window.

"Let's get moving," she heard the man with the eye shout from above. He, Sirius, and Remus started off. Harry still stayed closed.

"You sure you're going to be able to fly?" he asked, still looking concerned.

At least one of them cares about me, Gemma thought sourly to herself. She was about to tell Harry that she would be fine, when a shooting pain shot up out of her hands, protesting her grip on her broom. The pain shot all the way up her arms and was so strong her head began to swim. She could feel her grip loosening, and she knew that she would fall any second. She tried to direct her broom lower, so she wouldn't kill herself in the fall. She was just about to the first floor when she finally lost her grip and fell to the ground. She hit with a thud and let out a yelp of pain.

Harry was down next to her within seconds. "Gemma! Are you hurt?"

"I think only my pride." She smiled softly at Harry and he returned it. "I don't think I'm going to be able to hold a broom for very long though." She held up her hands. Several of the raw spots on her fingers had started to bleed. She fumbled painfully in her robes. "Here, take the antidote and the book. I'm wasting even more time."

"Harry! What's going on?" Sirius shouted as he turned back around. No one had seen her fall it seemed, but they saw them both on the ground. "Did she drop the antidote?" he asked in an apprehensive tone.

"No! It's her hands! They're burned from the nightfoil! She can't grip the broom!" He shouted back. "Come on. You can ride with me." Harry walked over, mounted his broom, and waited for Gemma to grab hold.

"I'll be fine, really. You go on ahead."

"Yeah, right. I'm just going to leave you here and fly off. Hurry and get on already!" Gemma looked up and saw Sirius starting to fly back towards them. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head as she mounted the broom behind Harry. Her arms were starting to feel stiff, and it hurt to bring them around Harry. She joined her hands gingerly and Harry kicked off. "You can hold a little tighter, Gemma. I don't mind," he said. Gemma couldn't tell how tightly she was holding on, but she tried to hold tighter.

Within no time, they were flying high and fast. The cool air seemed to soothe some of the burning, but the pain was still there. She and Harry passed Sirius.

Sirius took a close look at Gemma's hands, which were extremely red and still bleeding in a few places. "Why didn't you tell me your hands were hurting?" He sounded offended.

She wanted to shout at him that she would have if he had given her even a moment to speak, but instead answered, "We were in a hurry. I didn't want to slow us down. I didn't think they were that bad." It wasn't her fault the wanker was so daft he didn't even notice her raw hands when he was with her.

He shot her a disapproving look. "Harry, you follow Remus and Moody. I'm keeping up the rear."

Harry nodded and whisked the broom ahead to follow Remus and Moody.

Gemma tried her best to ignore the pain in her arms. It wasn't too hard actually as she became more and more dizzy. She had to concentrate so hard on keeping her head from spinning that her hands and arms only made a distant second in her mind.

"Harry is it?" Gemma asked lightly. She hoped carrying on a conversation would keep her head from spinning too terribly. She started to worry that she might lose consciousness.

Harry laughed a little. "It's been awhile since I've actually had to introduce myself. Harry Potter."

"I thought so, but I couldn't be sure. I've read about you in the papers. I hear you're an excellent Quidditch player. I trust I am in good hands flying with you?"

She could hear a smile in Harry's voice. "Flying is the one thing I am good at." He turned his head back to her. "I never got a chance to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" She asked, looking him in the eye.

"For saving Dumbledore that night. He would have died if it weren't for you. And then you helped Sirius too." He faced forward again. "Things would have turned out a lot worse if it weren't for you."

Gemma smiled weakly. "There's no need to thank me. I was just doing my job and I was happy to help."

Harry's tone grew serious. "No, it was my fault they were both hurt. If I had just listened to Dumbledore, it wouldn't have even happened. If he had…" he stopped. "Well, it would have been my fault."

Gemma could hear the guilt in this voice, and she searched for something to say to reassure him. "If I had a nickel for every time I should have just listened to Dumbledore but didn't, I'd be rich." She tried to squeeze Harry a bit tighter to show her support, but she wasn't sure if she had even moved her arms. They were nearly completely numb in the coldness of the upper air, and the freshness of the air actually seemed to be making her more light-headed making it hard for her to think straightly.

"But do people die from your mistakes? Does every choice you make affect the lives of everyone you care about?"

Gemma grew quiet for a moment. She had read about Harry Potter, as everyone had, and she knew that his burden must be a heavy one. "Harry, all our choices always affect the lives of everyone we love, the bad ones _and_ the good ones. We can only try to do what we think is right. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. Nothing bad happened, and that is what's important. We all mess up, Harry. All of us."

She wanted to change the subject quickly, as she was uncomfortable with the sadness in his voice, and so said without thinking. "So did your parents teach you how to fly?" She regretted saying it immediately. Of course she knew the story of the Potters, but she just wasn't thinking clearly. She could feel Harry stiffen.

"My parents died when I was a baby." He said nothing more.

She shook her head a bit, trying to clear it. "That's right, I'm sorry, I'm just a bit bubbled headed right now. I remember reading now that you lived with your Aunt and Uncle. Did they teach you how to fly? I bet you were a handful as a little wizard!" She purred slightly.

"I didn't learn how to do magic or fly until I came to Hogwarts. My Aunt and Uncle are Muggles. They don't much care for magic. Come to think of it, they don't much care for me either," Harry's voice trailed off.

Gemma was intrigued. "What do you mean they don't much care for you? They took you in, didn't they? That must mean they care for you."

Harry scoffed a bit. "Trust me, they only took me in because they had to. If my Aunt or Uncle had a choice in the matter, they wouldn't have even looked at me."

Gemma frowned. "That's terrible! They are good to you at least?"

Harry stiffened even more. He sneered. "Sure. I lived in the broom closet for eleven years. They didn't feed me sometimes. They put bars on my windows and locks on my doors. And the list goes on."

"Does Dumbledore know?" Gemma asked, shocked that Dumbledore would have allowed Harry to be treated that way.

"Yes," Harry responded simply.

"And he let's you go back! What a ninny!" Gemma shook her head strongly in disapproval, which made white stars appear in her eyes.

Harry shook his head too. "He keeps saying that it's for a good reason. They all do, even Mrs. Weasley. She says she'll come get me as soon as she can this summer, but to me, it's not even worth it. I don't understand why I even have to go."

"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. Tell you what. I'll talk to Dumbledore about it. Ask him why you need to go back. And I'll let you know what he says."

Harry turned around again. "Really?"

Gemma nodded. "Absolutely. I cannot see any reason for you to go back to that place. They don't feed you for the love of Merlin! Locks on your door! It's ridiculous. I can't for the life of me figure out why he hasn't gone there to teach them a lesson!"

Harry smiled dimly. "He'll probably just blow you off like he does me, but thanks for offering."

Gemma chuckled a bit. "If he does blow me off, I'll go there myself! I can't stand Muggles who act so foolishly!" She paused for a moment, and her voice grew lower. "My best friend's Muggle parents were horrible to her, just like your Aunt and Uncle. She used to be so scared to go home. I can't tell you how many times we wished we could make them stop. No one should ever be forced to live with people like that."

Gemma grew silent for awhile and Harry looked around to see if he could recognize his surroundings.

In true Moody fashion, he was not letting them ride directly to their destination, but instead they had to back-track and change directions quite often. It didn't seem like such a long ride to Harry though, because Gemma was easy to talk to. Strangely enough, she seemed to show a genuine concern for him, but unlike what he as used to. Everyone else was worried about Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Gemma seemed to be worried about just the boy. It was refreshing for Harry to talk with someone who didn't seem to care so much about who is was.

Gemma snapped out of her reverie as Harry took a quick dive with his broomstick and then shot quickly back up again. Harry laughed as he wrung his hands around his broomstick warming them up.

"Hang on tight!" He shouted back to her. He and Gemma laughed as he starting doing all kinds of crazy maneuvers on his broom. He told her the Quidditch name for each move, and Gemma laughed and screamed as she tried to hang on. Harry was about to show her the Flying Dutchman when Moody growled for them to stop.

Harry calmed his flying down again, making faces at Moody, when he felt Gemma starting to slide a bit. "Gemma, you need to hold on tighter. I've been feeling you slip back for awhile now."

Harry could feel her trying to move her hands and arms, but she loosened her grip, not tightened it. "So I hear you are a great Quidditch player. I hope you're a good flyer too." Her voice was extremely weak sounding.

"Gemma?" Harry grew alarmed immediately. That was the same question she had asked when they first started talking. Harry reached for her arm just as she finally slipped back and off the broom. He had hold of her robe for a few seconds, but lost his grip immediately.

Harry saw that her eyes were closed as she started to fall. "I've got her!" he heard Sirius shout from behind him and Harry saw Sirius's broom shoot down after Gemma.

She was falling rapidly, her hair flowing above her. Sirius flew below her and caught her in his arms. The force of the catch caused his broom to spin out of control, and he and Gemma plummeted as he struggled to hold both her and the broom. Her hair had wound itself around his neck and arms, and he was struggling to see where he was going and what he was doing. He struggled to get his arms untangled enough to control his broom.

Sirius finally managed to get the broom under control, and he propped Gemma up on his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. Harry caught up with them.

"Is she ok?" Harry asked as he looked at Gemma with a furrowed brow. Her eyes were flickering and rolling.

"I don't know," Sirius replied in a somber tone. He put two fingers to her throat. "Her heart is beating and she's breathing. It's probably got something to do with the nightfoil." He started fumbling in her robes until he found the antidote. He handed the vial to Harry.

"Go on ahead with Remus and Moody. You'll need to hurry. I'll follow behind with Gemma. It'll take me longer to fly with her now that she's unconscious." He shifted Gemma around on the front of his broomstick, gripping the handle with his left hand and hold Gemma with his right.

"I'll go give this to Professor Lupin and come back and fly with you."

"No, Harry. You can't be back here unprotected. You stay with Moody and Lupin."

"I'm a better flyer than you. Maybe I should take her and you go ahead?"

"I can handle it. Just go. We'll be right behind you." Harry looked for a moment as if he wasn't going to listen but he finally turned to catch up with Moody and Lupin.

Sirius again shifted Gemma in his arms. She was heavier than she looked and he could already feel his arms starting to ache. He could feel her forehead burning on his shoulder and he hoped she would be all right. He glanced at her hands, raw and bleeding, and cursed. The poor woman had started out her day shopping in Diagon Alley, unaware that she would be ending it having poisoned herself with nightfoil trying to make an antidote for a complete stranger. And, to top it all, she had asked them to leave her out of it. A fine job they had done of that.

Sirius steadied his broom and started flying, keeping a tight arm on Gemma. It wasn't completely slow going, once he got the hang of it. He was only behind by what he would guess was ten minutes.

They had moved Mundungus to Moody's house. He had so many security hexes and charms, they figured it would be the safest place for him. Dumbledore had not told Gemma where the Order's headquarters were, so she could not join them there, and Dumbledore was insistent that they not let Gemma out of their sight. After what happened in the Alley, he figured she might be a prime target of Death Eaters.

Sirius landed his broom in front of Moody's house and stiffly laid Gemma gently on the ground to rest a bit before carrying her in. He started rubbing his back immediately. It had been a hard ride indeed. Harry and Dumbledore came bursting from Moody's house. Much to Sirius's surprise as well, Severus Snape followed closely.

Dumbledore rushed forward and knelt down. He ran his hands over Gemma's forehead, wiping at some of the perspiration that had formed. He gently lifted her arms and examined her hands. "Severus, will she be all right?"

Snape moved forward and began examining her himself. Sirius wanted to smack his hands away, but restrained himself. He couldn't stand to see Snape touching her. Snape rolled up the sleeves of her robes and examined her arms. He felt her forehead. "It looks like she'll be fine. I'll make up a balm I can put on her burnt skin. She will need to sleep off the rest of the nightfoil's effects." He looked closer at Gemma, and took a lock of her hair in his hand thoughtfully. "Although I've never heard of nightfoil having such an effect on hair. I'll have to check some sources. It's quite unusual that it turned it white."

"That wasn't the nightfoil. Her hair is always white," Sirius said.

"Her hair is naturally white?" Snape asked curiously. He held her hair thoughtfully in his hands.

Dumbledore's voice cracked a bit. "There is nothing natural about it, but yes, it was white previously."

"Will she be all right?" Harry butted in, obviously wanting them to get back to the issue at hand.

"I'm not a healer, Potter," Snape spat out. But when Dumbledore shot him a glare, he added, "But, nightfoil, while mildly toxic to the touch, it is only fatal when ingested. I suspect that with some rest she will return to normal." Snape finally released her hair from his hands and growled out, "It was folly for her to have attempted the antidote in the first place. You all should have found me immediately upon securing the nightfoil and I could have handled the brewing personally. I would not have been so careless in dealing with nightfoil," he looked down at Gemma with a disapproving look. "There have been few successful attempts at brewing this particular antidote, I am one of the only few alive now that has succeeded, and I very much doubt a simple healer at St. Mungo's is capable of doing it correctly."

"Then I hope you don't mind being wrong, Snape. She's done it." Harry iced out, anger rising in his voice. He couldn't stand Snape insulting Gemma, especially while she was unconscious after having tried to save their friend. Snape's face grew dark and furrowed, but he did not respond to Harry.

"Let us wait and see, shall we?" Dumbledore quickly added, trying to diffuse the situation. "We should get her inside." Sirius nodded and picked Gemma up gently, careful not to hurt her hands further. Tonks had come to the door to see what was going on, and now held the door open for Sirius. He walked into the living room and set Gemma down on a couch.

Sirius was trying to rearrange her robes when he found the book of manifests she had hidden in them. He smiled softly to himself and handed the book to Moody, whose magic eye immediately starting whirling. Sirius looked over to Tonks. "Mundungus…is he?" Sirius had noticed that the man's screams were no longer filling the house.

Tonks raised her eyebrows as if in amazement. "Nope. Last I checked he was fine. He actually stopped screaming about five minutes after we gave him the antidote." She shot a look at Severus, who was trying his best not to look interested. "Even if it isn't working, at least he's not in pain anymore."

Sirius again smiled, looking down at Gemma's sleeping face. She had done it again. He saw some blood dripping from her hands drop to the floor. "What do you need for your balm, Snape?" Sirius asked, trying to keep his voice neutral. He hated having to ask Snape for help.

"I'll get it myself. It will take me awhile to gather what I need. I suggest you find her somewhere more comfortable to rest. She might be incapacitated for a few days." He walked hurriedly from the room.

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "This might not be the best place for her. She'll need someone to take care of her. I might go to the Weasleys' and see if they would care to watch after her a few days."

"That's an excellent idea. I think Molly will take great care of her," Sirius said as Dumbledore and Tonks sat down the near the couch. None of them said a word as they all sat in the calm silence that forms after a crisis. It had been a long day for them all.

Tonks was staring absently at Gemma, as if she were thinking. "Dumbledore," she said suddenly, turning to him. "Do you know how it happened…to Gemma? I thought maybe she was a metamorphmagus."

Dumbledore shook his head, and his face had grown solemn. "No, no, she is not. It was an apparation accident. At the end of her third year at Hogwarts, she had reason to apparate, even though she had no training. She saved me," he added quietly, closing his eyes. "But, since she was so young and inexperienced, she did not apparate herself correctly and wound up looking as she does." Sirius could hear the regret and guilt in Dumbledore's voice. Clearly he blamed himself. Sirius was burning to know what Dumbledore and Gemma might have been doing, but Dumbledore remained quiet about the rest of the story.

Tonks was still staring at Gemma. Sirius thought she was going to ask about what they had seen, about when her eyes and hair had changed, but she never did. After talking a bit about what they would all do next, Dumbledore rose. "I really should go see about Molly tending to Gemma. Harry, I think we might also arrange for you to stay with the Weasleys' a few more days before you return home."

Harry's face grew dark, but he said nothing. "I should be back shortly. I need to speak with Severus once he returns. Don't let him leave before I speak with him," Dumbledore added with force. He then turned and was gone.

"What a day," Sirius signed as he sat at the foot of the couch. He ran a hand over his eyes, and breathed deeply.

"I agree," Remus added tiredly. He shot a reassuring glance to Tonks, who was seated near him.

They exchanged a quiet conversation as they waited for Snape to return. Moody had joined them after examining the manifests. He said they had hit the jackpot with the book. He would study it more lately, but it held mounds of useful information.

Sirius was absently flipping through the book, when Dumbledore burst in again. "Let's get her to the Weasleys'. Molly said she would take care of her." Sirius gently took Gemma in his arms. "Has Severus not returned?" Dumbledore asked, surprise in his voice. They all shook their heads. "Interesting," was all he added as the group moved to the Weasleys'.

Gemma wasn't as oblivious as they all thought her to be. On several occasions she was conscious, but the pain was so great that she couldn't move enough to even open her eyes. She heard snippets of conversations, though they sounded somewhat garbled to her.

She was awake when Snape had finally returned to the Weasleys' with the balm. The balm was as soothing as she thought Heaven would be. The burning in her hands and arms subsided instantly as he put it on. She was surprised too at how gentle he was when he put it on. He delicately wrapped her hands in bandages as well when he was done. She could hear Snape give curt instructions to Molly before he left.

Gemma was by no means conscious the whole time though. Sometimes the lightness in her head would send her spinning, and often she found herself lost of memories. They came randomly, but vividly. She had been dreading one memory when it finally came: that one day, so many years ago, at the end of her third year. She saw the Death Eater mask, saw him moving closer to her, when she finally shot awake, gasping.

She looked around, at first not knowing where she was.

"It's okay, you're at my house," a soft voice said to her right. She turned quickly, and saw Ginny's red hair next to her. Gemma eyes were still unfocused. She tried to blink to clear them. "You feeling okay? I can go get my mom."

Gemma laid her head back down on the pillow, trying to take in her surroundings. She was in a very comfortable bed, and she was warm. Someone was cooking something that smelled wonderful, the aroma filled the house. She lifted her hands gingerly, and turned them over. The bandages made her look like a mummy, but her hands barely tingled. There was no more burning. Her head still ached dully, but it didn't bother her. She still felt extremely dizzy though.

"I think I'll be all right. I might just need a second to clear my head."

"Let me know if you need anything," Ginny added, scooting her chair closer to Gemma.

Gemma watched her. Ginny clearly had been waiting for Gemma to wake. She was looking expectantly at Gemma. "Was there something you need to talk to me about, Ginny?" Gemma asked kindly. She wanted to get her mind warmed up, and talking helped. Her throat felt a bit unused and she wondered how long she might have been sleeping.

"It can wait until you are feeling better. I only wanted to…" she trailed off. Gemma caught her eyes and smiled. "I just wanted to see if you were going to tell on me," Ginny hurried out.

"Tell on you for what?" Gemma asked genuinely confused.

Ginny seemed reluctant to speak. "About what happened that night…at the Hospital."

Gemma's eyes widened as she finally understood. She shut her eyes tiredly. "I had almost forgotten. That seems like ages ago." She opened her eyes and made sure that Ginny met her gaze fully. "I promise that I won't say anything until we've had a good chance to talk it out ourselves. Deal?"

Ginny looked relieved. "Definitely." She smiled at Gemma. "I'll go get my mom now. She told me to get her when you woke up." Ginny left the room, with a bit of a spring in her step. She had been clearly worried that Gemma was going to tell everyone what she had done.

Much to Gemma's surprise, it was not Ginny's mother that entered her room first, but two red-headed twins. "Fred and George Weasley, inventors of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." They both held out hands as if to shake Gemma's, but when she raised her bandaged hand, the both put theirs down immediately. "Word on the street is that you are quite knowledgeable with herbs."

Gemma cocked an eyebrow. "I know my fair share."

"Great," one of the twins said and he plopped down on the bed on her right side. The other twin sat to her left. "What all do you know about barfing? Causes and cures."

Gemma couldn't help but let out a laugh. And that was pretty much how her first few days with the Weasleys' went. Ginny was nearly always with her when she first woke. She had been kind enough to braid Gemma's hair, two large French-braid pigtails, since they didn't have any hats big enough to hold all her hair. Ginny spent her mornings helping Gemma with breakfast, talking nearly non-stop. Gemma was thankful for the distraction. Fred and George had taken to surprising her at all kinds of odd hours too, asking her opinion on all kinds of their projects. Gemma knew that Molly would kill her if she knew that she had been helping them.

Molly had been absolutely wonderful. Her cooking was terrific and she was always checking to see if there was anything Gemma needed. She felt very safe and well taken care of with the Weasleys'. Even Mr. Weasley, Arthur, would talk with her in the evenings about Ministry goings on. In four days time, Gemma felt good enough to start walking around. Ron, and sometimes Fred and George, would help keep her steady as she walked from room to room. They really all did their best to make her feel like part of the family, and Gemma was thankful that they were taking such good care of her.

The only thing she found lacking was that Sirius, Dumbledore, and Remus had not been to see her once. She found that infuriatingly rude. She had risked too much for them to just dump her off and leave. She had been fuming about this particular slight for several minutes on the Weasleys' back porch. They had a small porch swing in the back, and she found the rocking motion soothing. Her dizziness was nearly all gone, and the fresh air made her feel nearly normal.

"I had hoped to find you alone, but should you be out this late? It's cool and drafty," a smooth voice said from behind her.

"Sirius, it's summer-time. And I'm not an invalid. The fresh air does me good," she responded, trying to keep the excitement from her voice. He had set her on edge the moment she had heard his first word, and her head was buzzing for reasons other than nightfoil.

She could hear him walk over to her, and he paused to drop something in her lap. He continued walking past her and sat on the steps of the porch.

"What's this?" she said, eyeing the package, which looked strangely like an ill-wrapped present.

Sirius cleared his throat nervously. "Just a little something…consider it a thank you. For all you've done lately." He kept his head facing forward, not looking.

Earlier that day, she had finally removed the bandages on her hands. Her hands and fingers were still a bit red and sore, but all the rawness and bleeding was gone. She quickly unwrapped the box, anxious to see what was inside. She shifted through the tissue paper and uncovered a lavender colored scarf, which had small, pale blue flowers on it. She gasped as she held it up. It was made out of the softest silk she thought she had ever felt.

"It's not signed by Lockhart of course, so it's not perfect" Sirius added smartly when he heard her gasp. "There's one more thing in the box."

Gemma laughed delighted and fished around in the tissue paper. She shot her hand deep into the box, ignoring the slightly uncomfortable tingling, and wrapped her fingers on what felt like cold paper down on the bottom. She pulled it out and held it in the faint light from the Weasleys' kitchen. She could only gasp. It was a bag of Skittles. Gemma felt her eyes tear a bit. Sirius was still sitting on the steps, not looking at her.

Gemma rose to her feet and walked shakily over to the steps. She plopped down next to Sirius. He looked at her, some kind of unreadable light in his gray eyes, before he turned his head away again. Gemma softly kissed his temple. "Open these for me?" she asked, holding out the Skittles. Sirius took the bag from her and struggled to figure out how to open them.

"This is probably the nicest thing anyone has done for me in awhile," she said softly, as Sirius continued to fight with the Skittles bag.

"Well, I figured you lose a scarf every time you are with me. It won't be long before you'll be out," his eyes avoided hers. Instead he chose to concentrate on the Skittles bag. "I don't really think you need them though, but I know you like them."

She wrapped the soft scarf thankfully around her neck. She wasn't sure she would ever take it off. Sirius had finally managed to open the Skittles bag and had handed it back to Gemma. "And Remus explained to me about the Skittles while we were on our way over from the Ministry. He said they were your favorite." Sirius's voice took on a slightly agitated tone.

Gemma tried to hide her smile as she dug through the Skittles bag. She kept shaking it and turning it in the light, looking for a lime one.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, smirking at her.

"I'm looking for the ones I want. I don't like them all."

He was watching her intently. "What are they?"

Gemma shook the bag again, and closed one eye to look in. "They are chewy fruit snacks. Each color tastes differently."

"Like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Sirius asked.

"Not quite. There aren't nearly so many flavors, and they are all fruity, nothing nasty. The lime ones are my favorite." She shot a hand in, and pulled one out. "Ew. Grape."

She was about to throw it back in the bag when Sirius grabbed her hand gently. "I like grape." She smiled hugely at him and let him take the grape drop from her hand.

"Good, you can have them all." Sirius looked somewhat reluctant to put the candy in his mouth, and at first he chewed it cautiously, much to Gemma's amusement, but she could tell quickly that he liked it. She shot her hand in the bag again and pulled out another circle. "What are your thoughts on lemon?"

He took the lemon from her as well. "I like lemon too." He popped the lemon quickly in his mouth this time and began chewing.

Gemma finally found her lime one, and was chewing softly on it as well. "Well, that works out perfect. I don't like the grape or lemon ones, but I always feel bad throwing them away."

He met her eyes. "Well, I guess you'll always have to eat Skittles with me now."

Gemma could feel her heart drop in her stomach and some heat rise in her cheeks. She could have sworn his voice sounded much more husky than usual as he had said it. She met his eyes bravely. That same unreadable light was there. Gemma could feel her flesh pink as he moved closer to her. He propped one hand on the floor of the porch and brought his other hand up to touch one of her braids.

"I like you hair like this." He rubbed the braid gently with his thumb.

"Ginny did it for me," was all Gemma could think to reply as Sirius dropped her hair and moved his hand to her face. He placed his hand on her cheek, and she pressed her face into the warmth of it. She could feel his hand gently drawing her closer, and she leaned into him. Her head was buzzing but she felt her heart miraculously still as their lips met. It was a gentle and soft kiss. Sirius's lips felt rough, but nice on her own. He pulled away slowly after a few moments to look in her eyes. She didn't know what he was looking for there, but she hoped they were telling him not to stop. He started to lean forward again, when they heard the back door swing open.

Gemma jumped back slightly, but Sirius stood his ground. He looked to the door with a growl. Harry looked at them both, a small grin on his face. "We just got in. Dumbledore wants to hold a meeting."

Sirius sighed. He couldn't miss a meeting of the Order, no matter how much he cared to. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Gemma. She smiled at him playfully, and he could feel his resolve falter.

"Sirius, we're ready to start when you are," he heard Molly yell from the kitchen window.

Gemma laughed. "Help me in?"

Sirius got quickly to his feet and helped Gemma to hers. She leaned more heavily on his arm than the thought she would. "I didn't realize you still were feeling weak. Why didn't you tell me?"

Gemma squeezed his arm. "Well, I'm not quite sure if it's the nightfoil or you making me feel this way." Sirius barked out a laugh and grinned wickedly, but they said no more as they walked in. Sirius helped Gemma into a chair next to Dumbledore. He sat himself on the armrest.

It seemed as if Dumbledore had already started the meeting for he was in mid-sentence when Gemma and Sirius sat down. "…I enjoy making you suffer." Dumbledore's voice held an irritated tone.

Gemma shot Sirius a sideways glance. Harry immediately spoke up. "Then why do you make me go back?" Gemma raised her eyebrows. They were clearly fighting about him having to go back to his Aunt and Uncle's. She hoped her talk earlier did not give Harry any ideas to start a fight with Dumbledore.

"I would not make you go there if I didn't think that is where you would be safest, Harry. Surely you must understand this."

"I think we've already proven that that idea is flawed. I was attacked by Dementors there last summer," Harry fought back. "I was on my own there. If I'm going to be on my own, why can't I at least choose the place?"

Dumbledore breathed deeply. "I already explained this to you. There are protections set in place for you there that no one else can match. It is only for a few months and we should be able to move you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Protected but miserable. No thanks. You might as well just drop me in the middle of a desert. I'd get better care there."

"Harry!" Molly cut in. "We'll bring you here as soon as we can."

Harry's lip curled in displeasure. "What you're all saying is that I have to take it whether I like it or not. It doesn't matter how horrible they are to me? You all get to be included and I don't!" he stormed out of the room.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and got up to follow Harry with Molly.

"I'll be right back," Sirius said to Gemma as he followed them.

Gemma turned to Tonks, who was seated at her right. "Why does he have to go back? I don't understand."

Tonks screwed up her nose, which changed shapes. "Don't know. Dumbledore has his reasons I assume. Sucks though, those two are right gits to Harry. I wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson, but Dumbledore says we have to leave them alone."

Gemma was about to ask further, but Sirius and Dumbledore had reentered. Sirius did not retake his seat next to Gemma, but instead moved to the chair that Molly had occupied. He looked lost in thought and did not look at anyone else in the room.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Now that we've go that cleared up," he sounded amused, "we'll move on to more pressing things." He grabbed the book of manifests that Gemma had stolen. "This book has proven to be quite useful. Alastor and I have been over it quite a few times, and we've detected several interesting patterns. Nearly every large shipment the Death Eaters order is funneled through to three different places. After that, we have no idea where the goods are going, or what they are doing with them."

"What kinds of goods are we talking about, Dumbledore?" Arthur Weasley asked.

Dumbledore perched his chin thoughtfully on the tips of his fingers. "All kinds actually. It is quite odd. There are several shipments of herbs, foods, and other miscellaneous goods. What is most interesting is a series of artifacts and equipment."

Remus shifted in his seat. "What kinds of artifacts?"

Moody joined in. "Mostly old scrolls from several foreign libraries. Some tablets and tapestries too. All about the same thing though: the Founders."

"The Founders?" Remus replied.

"Of Hogwarts," Dumbledore finished. "Lord Voldemort is apparently looking for something hidden in texts about the Four Founders." Sirius detected an odd tone in Dumbledore's voice, as if he might be leaving something out. He also noticed that Gemma had paled and sunk in her seat. She was fidgeting with the scarf around her neck nervously.

"They've also ordered quite a bit of excavation equipment. They're digging for something, possibly having to do with the Founders." Moody got up and started pacing the room. "The manifests, of course, don't mention what. But we can see the areas where they are shipping most of the excavation materials to, so we at least know where they are looking even if we don't know what they are looking for."

Gemma shot her eyes to Dumbledore to see if he would make any indication that he already knew what You-Know-Who was looking for. He made none, and so Gemma followed suit, even though she had a very good idea about exactly what he was looking for.

"Well, what's the plan then? We've got to figure out what he's looking for and if he actually knows where it is or if he's just searching," Sirius was fumbling with the heel of his boot absently. He was clearly still concerned about Harry.

"Yes, we'll need to split up. I was hoping that you and Tonks might be able to go around and scout about the sites. See exactly where they are digging and see if you spot what they are doing." He turned to Gemma, "I was hoping that Remus and Gemma could do a little work in the library, trying to locate similar scrolls to what Voldemort has requested so we may be as informed as he is." He moved to pick up the book again. "Before you leave though Gemma, I was hoping to get you to prepare a Veritaserum for me, since Professor Snape is absent again. There is a man listed several times here as receiving goods. I tried to question him earlier, but he was not forthcoming. I thought a little persuasion might be in order." His eyes twinkled

Gemma remained silent. Dumbledore fumbled in is robes for a moment and pulled out a Galleon. He walked over and held it out to Gemma. "It's enchanted, an idea of Miss Hermione Granger. The letters here heat up when I've called a meeting. The initials here will spell out at which location the meeting will be at. The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, you should know, is located at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London."

Gemma made no motion to take the coin. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a member of the Order," she said softly.

Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Yes, I know we have not formally made you a member, but you are as good as."

Sirius smiled, but Gemma did not. Gemma took a deep breath. "No, you misunderstand. I won't be needing that coin because I am _not_ a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

Everyone in the room was silent as they all stared at Gemma. Dumbledore's lip twitched. "Yes, I think I have misunderstood you."

Gemma's face flushed as Dumbledore still stood over her. "If any of you had bothered to ask me, I could have told you and saved you the trouble. I have no, nor have I ever had, any intention of joining you. I helped only because I could not in good conscience leave things as they were. I will certainly not be involved in any escapades involving Death Eaters or You-Know-Who, so you can all forget that!"

No one moved even a muscle, and Dumbledore's lip continued twitching. Suddenly he burst out, "Gemma Peacecraft! I never in my life!" He roughly grabbed her hand and shoved the coin in. Gemma gasped a bit as his roughness caused her still sensitive hand to ache. "As I recall it, I never asked you to join anyway, so that settles that! You are now formally a member of the Order of the Phoenix and I expect you to act as one with full participation forthwith. You will go upstairs right now. I've dropped of the ingredients into Fred and George's room. I expect Veritaserum before I leave this night. And I will not hear another word from you!" He suddenly backed away as Gemma got to her feet furiously. Her face was flushed and she stood glaring at Dumbledore for a full minute before she finally walked out of the room. Dumbledore called after her. "We will finish this later!"

Dumbledore sat loudly in his chair, clearly distracted. He fumbled with his half-moon spectacles before speaking again. "We also need to find out as much as we can about today's events. I've sent Shacklebolt to Azkaban to investigate."

Remus sighed. "No one there will be able to help us. The Dementors are no longer on our side, and I doubt anyone else there is for that matter. They bow to money and power, and You-Know-Who has both. The fact that all the Death Eaters there have managed to escape shouldn't surprise us."

"Escaped?" Molly Weasley gasped, and she grasped the collar of her dress, pulling it tight.

Sirius nodded. "We first got word early this afternoon. Every Death Eater there, including the ones that were arrested last week at the Ministry has escaped. Remus and I were at the Ministry when we heard they were casting anti-apparation jinxes around several important locations, to prevent the Death Eaters from getting any help they need or capturing key locations."

Dumbledore nodded. "And our first steps should be to try and apprehend as many of them as possible. I've spoken with the Minister, and he has given Tonks special permission act as liaison to several aurors who we will be aiding. It is most crucial that we do not allow Voldemort his most trusted followers."

"Easier said than done," Sirius added. He kept glancing upstairs. He wanted so badly to leave and speak with Gemma. He and the others continued talking strategy though, laying out what little they knew and what needed to be done to learn more. Near the end of the meeting, when Dumbledore was speaking nearly exclusively to Tonks about the other aurors, Sirius excused himself and headed upstairs.

He had no idea which room Gemma had gone to, but he tried to follow the smell of the burning cauldron. He found his way to a light under a closed door, and he stopped for a moment, listening in. Gemma was grumbling to herself. He heard her knocking and pounding everything she could as she went, and he couldn't help but smile.

He knocked softly before turning the knob. From the other side of the door, Gemma said venomously, "If that is you, Albus Dumbledore, I would suggest that your turn right back around. I've nothing to say to you!"

"And what do you suggest if it's Sirius Black?" Sirius asked as he entered the room.

Gemma was seated on the floor, brewing the Veritaserum in the cauldron that Fred and George used to create all their crazy concoctions. She did not yell at him, but her sour mood did not change. "If he says one thing about the Order of the Phoenix, he'll wish he had stayed downstairs," she answered foully.

Sirius's eyes narrowed. "You can't be serious about not wanting to join."

Gemma glared at him. "And why can't I be? Just because you all bully me into helping doesn't mean that I actually want to! Have any of you ever asked me even once? I told Remus and I told Dumbledore that I did not want to be included; that I would not be helping. But did they listen? No? He still comes in, asking me to heal him, heal you, looking for me to brew antidotes to the most horrible potions imaginable. Getting me involved with Death Eaters! And Remus, he has me brewing Wolfsbane potions for him! It's like they don't even listen. None of you listen! I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX!" Gemma banged down her spoon with her last words.

Sirius scowled at her. "Can't be bothered with the dirty work, is what you mean," he shot back. "Risking your life for others just isn't worth it to you. But you'll be sure to reap the rewards once we done. You'll just walk over our corpses and hope for the best? And if you don't pick sides, it'll be easier for you to join him in case we do lose."

Gemma looked as if he had slapped her. "That's not what I am saying, and you know it. That's not fair!"

"You'll have to excuse me if I take your insults personally, but the Order is my life's work. I've given up everything I am to stop the Dark Arts, and nearly everyone I ever cared about died doing the same. It's pathetic to hear you talk about it as if it's some club you don't want to join because it doesn't suit you." Sirius regretted saying it, but he couldn't stop himself.

Gemma's eyes widened. "Would you stop overreacting?! You know that's not what I mean! Can't you understand that I might have my own reasons for not joining? Do you have to jump to such conclusions?"

"If you aren't with us, then you are with him. It's as simple as that," he spat as he walked to the door. At the doorway he stopped and looked back, saying in a toneless voice, "I liked you better when I thought you actually were our ally instead of a sponger not wanting to get your hands dirty." He held open his hands for a moment, as if to say that's all, and then left the room. On his way down the steps, he passed Dumbledore, going up, no doubt to speak with Gemma himself.

Sirius couldn't explain it, but Gemma's reluctance to join the Order really hurt him. It was like she was shunning all his friends and all he stood for. He had given up everything, had given his life nearly on several occasions, for the Order and to help put a stop to the Dark Arts. Countless others had given their lives and died in an effort to stop Voldemort, including Harry's parents, and if Gemma couldn't honor that, then he had seriously misjudged her.

Gemma could not believe what had just happened. Not half an hour before, they had shared a somewhat romantic moment. Now he hated her and had raked over the coals. Why couldn't he understand that she just didn't think she deserved to be in the Order? Only the most capable of witches and wizards should be in the fight, and she was clearly not. Had she not nearly killed several innocent people in Diagon Alley through her mistake? Had she not crawled helpless at the feet of a Death Eater? Didn't he realize that she was a sitting duck for Death Eaters? They'd kill her before she knew what was coming if she ever had to face them. It wasn't that she didn't feel the Order a worthy cause or that she wanted He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to win. On the contrary, she felt awed to be with such fierce fighters and was somewhat assured that they would come out on top. But she certainly wasn't their equal.

Gemma couldn't imagine her day getting worse. She was determined to finish the Veritaserum as Dumbledore had ordered, and then she was going to hide under a rock for a least a week. Maybe by then Sirius and Dumbledore might have cooled off and would actually let her explain herself fully before blowing their lids.

Gemma began working on the potion again, and did not look up as she heard someone rap at the door. She didn't respond because she didn't want to give anyone else the opportunity to yell at her. She didn't have another fight in her. She tried to look without looking, and saw that it was in fact Dumbledore who had come in, no doubt to finish the job.

She was sure he must have heard some of the yelling Sirius had done, probably the whole house had, and her cheeks burned slightly. Was that what they all thought? That she didn't want to join because she supported You-Know-Who? She couldn't bear to hear Dumbledore say those things to her too, so she chose to remain silent.

"I'm very disappointed in you," Dumbledore said after a few minutes of silence, realizing that if he didn't say anything, Gemma certainly wouldn't.

"A little early in the argument to be using that card, isn't it?" Gemma responded stiffly, still stirring her potion. Why was it that he always knew the exact buttons to push? "But effective. I wish you wouldn't say that," she said in a softer, exasperated tone.

Dumbledore chuckled a bit and sat down on George's bed, so that he was facing Gemma at the cauldron. "You've got quite a bit of explaining to do," he raised his eyebrows and stared down at her. "I cannot fathom why you are so against joining the Order."

Gemma silently got up from the floor and moved to sit next to him. She sat completely still for a moment, a million thoughts running through her head. She had so many things she wanted to tell him, so many things she needed to say, but she couldn't pick where to begin. Finally, in a defeated tone, she responded, "I can't be brave like you all."

Dumbledore chuckled a bit, and reached for one of her braids. "I beg to differ. I would not be here today if it weren't for your actions."

Gemma looked away. "But it wasn't enough, was it? She still died. I couldn't saver her. And look at me now." She looked down at her hands, wringing them slowly in her lap.

Dumbledore was about to reply, but she continued, "I nearly died the other day in Diagon Alley, you know? There was a Death Eater standing over me, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about. I couldn't shield myself, I couldn't attack him. All I wound up doing was shooting bubbles and a bit of flowers at him. I can't defend myself, even when my life depends on it. And that's fine. I've learned to live with it. But about when it's not just my life? What if I'm doing something for the Order, it all depends on me, and I can't even cast a spell? What if I'm with someone that I can't protect? You and I both know I have no control over when my powers come and go. And even when they do come back, I still can't control them. I know Sirius and rest think I saved him that day but the truth is I had no choice in the matter. It was luck that I hit the Death Eater, because I could have just easily hit Sirius instead. I'll wind up doing more damage than good." She looked up into Dumbledore eyes, meeting his fiercely. "How can you put your faith into me when you can't even count on me?" She shut her eyes tightly for a moment. "In times like these, in war, you need someone you can rely on. That isn't me."

Dumbledore grabbed her hands and squeezed gently. "You have never let me down in my life, Gemma, and I know that you never will. I will always count on you because I know that I can." He began to rub her hands with his thumbs, a far away look in his eyes. "In these dangerous times, we must surround ourselves with those we love and care about, as much to drawn strength from them, as to protect them. And to do that, Gemma, we must fight. We cannot trust that things will turn out all right. We have to make them so, yes? We have to work at taking control of what we can. You understand this? That we must fight?" He held her gaze strongly. "No matter what we think we are facing, we must fight to keep it from happening."

Gemma nodded her head, but held onto Dumbledore hand. "This is a road I never intended for myself. I can't get involved in anything where someone's life would depend on me. Not after what happened before," she barely whispered out.

"Gemma, nearly everyone is now facing an untraveled path, as these are the darkest of times ahead of us. There are few fighting with us who survived the First War, and we are in no shape to fight a Second War. I can bet that very few ever intend to put themselves between Voldemort and his dominion. They never intended to travel this path either. Often, we do not have a choice in the matter. But, we all have to test ourselves at one time or another. And I daresay you will prove yourself to be much greater than you give yourself credit."

Dumbledore smiled at her softly. "And don't think that I haven't considered your unusual problem myself. I'm asking you to be in the Order as much to help us as to keep you safe. I won't be sending you on missions where I know there will be any direct danger. My thoughts were more for you to be a more reliable potions maker than we currently have. And a healer will be incredibly useful in our ranks, don't you think?" His voice took on a different tone as he talked about his plans for her and the Order. It was like the Order brought new life and purpose to him.

"I remember you being brilliant with ancient runes as well, and as it seems Lord Voldemort is searching in ancient scrolls, that will come in handy now too." He met her eyes and brought his hand under her chin. "Sound like a plan? I'll keep you out of direct action and I'll make sure you stay safe, especially now that I've put you on the Death Eater radar?"

Gemma nodded a bit. "What about my parents and my sisters and their families? What am I going to tell them? How can I keep them out of this? How do I explain to them that I am putting them in danger?"

Dumbledore sighed and closed his eyes tiredly. "I'm afraid it's too late now. The Death Eaters and Voldemort no doubt, now know that we have you helping us. There's no way to keep them out of it. But, the real point here, Gemma, the point I think Sirius was trying to make, much less eloquently, is that there is no where out of danger anymore. Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters are back. The Second War has started. No one can simply stay out of it. Either he will win or we will. The best way now for us to protect those we love is to fight. Doing nothing will only put them in more danger."

Gemma nodded, realizing Dumbledore was right. No matter how many reasons she might give him for not joining, the fact of the matter was that there really was no choice. You-Know-Who was back and if he couldn't be stopped, she'd have a lot more to worry about than a few angry Death Eaters.

Dumbledore suddenly looked very sad. "I'm so sorry, Gemma. I keep asking so much of you, and giving you little chance to deny me."

Gemma chuckled mildly. "I'm keeping a tab, don't you worry. It doesn't help you're always right about everything though. Every little thing you have had me do has really been for the best, no matter how dismal it looked to start with."

Dumbledore brightened a bit. "I thank you for that vote of confidence."

Gemma shot him a small smile, but grew grave. "I will tell you this though, Albus Dumbledore. I've warned you. I tried not to join the Order of the Phoenix. One day down the line, I'm going to mess up. You're taking a great big gamble, and I just hope you aren't sorry you made me join."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, and looked at her sharply from his half-moon spectacles, but he did not answer her. Instead he got up and walked over to the cauldron. "I think we should get finished on this potion. I've got plans to use it soon."

Gemma joined him, and they carried on a companionable conversation, as if the events prior had never happened. Gemma tried to ignore the weight of the coin in her pocket and tried to not think ahead to what may come. Dumbledore's mind was working double-time, trying to figure out what Gemma could have possibly meant, and what she was hiding.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the world in which they live. I intend no infringement upon J.K. Rowling's rights. I only ask that she let me borrow her creations for a little while. I promise to put everything back the way I found it!

Author's Note: I cannot tell you how sorry I am that I've been so behind on my updates! I got a new, more stressful job, and it's just been hard to get back into the groove of things. I should be able to update much more regularly now! To everyone who has reviewed: I am just thrilled that you like the story so far, and I hope that I can keep up the expectations. I have a great adventure planned if I could just get it all out! To kat183, I'd like to thank you for your encouragement especially, and for nudging me to get off my lazy butt and continuing working!

As side note, I've lost my beta reader, so I apologize for any mistakes, both in grammar and in content. I've tried to keep a sharp eye, but please forgive all my little errors!

Chapter 5:

In the last few hours, Gemma had learned that the longer gillyweed sits outside of water, the stickier it gets. To her misfortune, the ultra-stickiness of dried-out gillyweed was not a property listed in any herbology books, so she had not kept any of the whole crate-full she had bought wet, causing her current dilemma. Her fingers felt like she had been playing in warm glue all day and she was constantly fighting to keep them from clinging together.

Gemma hadn't bothered with putting her hair up before she had started, so now there were stringy clumps of gillyweed streaming through it. In the beginning, she had tried cleaning her fingers off on her robe, so it too was smeared with the sticky herb. The gillyweed had also stuck all over her spoons, cauldron, mortar and pestle, vials, sieves, and her kitchen counters as well. She and her apartment kitchen basically looked like a swamp had thrown up all over them. Gemma didn't even want to think of how hard it was going to be to clean it all up. Adding to her frustration was the fact that after over twelve hours of arduous work, she was barely making progress.

Dumbledore and Kingsley Shacklebolt had requested that she try to brew an underwater breathing potion that would allow the imbiber to remain underwater for over five hours. For some reason, wherever Kingsley was going, spells would not work, and he therefore could not use the bubble-head or any other charm. Instead, they had asked her to come up with a solution. Gemma had been experimenting all day with every plant and herb she could think of that had breathing, bubbling, or air properties. She felt she was getting closer, and had actually had a near success with a gillyweed and pearlkelp base mix, but she was just about out of gillyweed. Kingsley had been at her apartment for the good part of the morning and afternoon, testing her brews—no matter how badly the smelled, tasted, or looked. The final result of all the concoctions, however, was failure. He had left two hours ago, claiming that if he had to dunk his head underwater one more time, he would explode. Gemma decided to use the quiet time to study the problem before brewing another potion.

Gemma brought out all of the herb and herbology books she had, including an old, out of circulation herbology book she had found in Knockturn Alley one night, and started to fumble through the pages again. Unfortunately, all these books were now smeared with the gillyweed as well. She reached down for the hem of her robe and wiped the book in front of her free of the gillyweed that was blocking her reading. She started turning the pages with a clean part of her robe.

"Mountain whitesage can help clear the lungs after a chest sickness and has been a popular folk remedy when trying to treat breathing problems. However, with prolonged usage, the whitesage transfers its air properties to the imbiber, who will become as transparent as air and begin floating, an irreversible side effect," Gemma read aloud to herself from _Unpopular Remedies_ by Tilda Mossgrew. "I don't suppose one potion would count as 'prolonged usage'," Gemma mused, wondering if Kingsley would be mind invisible for the rest of his life, "but I haven't seen whitesage sold for months now." Gemma started flipping pages again. She had only enough gillyweed to try maybe one or two more experiments, so she wanted to be sure she tried only the most likely herbs and plants.

She was reading an excerpt about a wild tree whose fruit was said to grow a temporary, artificial lung, when she heard a quiet knock at the door. Gemma shot her eyes over to the clock. It read half past nine o'clock. She was supposed to meet her best friend Serena at nine in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Drat! Serena, let yourself in! I think I left the door unlocked when I was carrying in a crate of herbs." Gemma started wiping her hands on the front of her robes. "I can't get to door, my hands are filthy! I'm so sorry about tonight. I lost all track of time. Let me just clean up a few things here and we can go." Gemma hurriedly shut all her books and started shoving her cutting boards, knives, and vials to one corner of the table. She heard the door open slowly, and a horrible scraping noise followed, as if something heavy was being dragged in.

Suddenly, Gemma wasn't as sure it was Serena at the door, and she now wished she had asked who it was before she advertised that the door was unlocked. Her magic was not working today, so she really hadn't felt much of a need to lock it. If she couldn't magically seal the door, any wizard, especially a Death Eater, would be able to come and go at will. However, that didn't stop her back from tensing up.

"Serena?" Gemma asked again.

Gemma tiptoed over to the kitchen table where she had placed her wand earlier. She wrapped her fingers tightly around it and tried to lift it quietly. The wand didn't budge. Gemma looked down in agitation. Apparently, she had placed her wand in a large pile of gillyweed scraps, and it was now stuck madly to the gillyweed and the table. Gemma started pulling furiously, levering her whole weight into pulling the wand free. She gave it a mighty tug, placing one of her feet on the leg of the table, and the wand finally broke free. The force of her tug, however, blasted her back and she crashed into her cauldron, causing a terrible clang as it fell to the floor and rolled loudly. She clenched her eyes tight for a moment, willing the cauldron to stop rolling on the floor, and then started to tiptoe into her front room. Whoever had come in hadn't made a sound since entering.

She rounded the corner, her wand at the ready, and jumped into her front room. Gemma would have been less surprised if she had found a Death Eater there, for instead, sitting on her couch with a trunk in front of him, was Harry Potter. His hair was sticking up in every place, not just in the back, his cheeks were flaming red, his chest was heaving, he had on two different shoes, and it looked suspiciously like his shirt was on backwards.

"Harry? What's happened? Are you okay?" She rushed over to him, looking intently, but she tried not to touch him so she didn't get gillyweed on him.

Harry shot up from the couch when he saw her approach and bent over his trunk, a desperate look on his face. "I figured you were my best chance."

Gemma looked suspiciously at his trunk. "Best chance at what? If you are thinking of staying here, I should warn you that…"

Harry suddenly interrupted her. "But the Dursleys are even more horrible this summer than they ever have been!" He fumbled and dug around inside the trunk and pulled out a mangled birdcage and several school books. "Do you see this?" He held up his books. "Dudley started pulling out the pages of all my books and using them as stuffing for his couch and bed, since they weren't fluffy enough. When I tried to stop him…and accidentally pushed him to the ground," Harry added in a quick voice, "Uncle Vernon did this!" He held up his mangled birdcage. "He ran it over with his car…with Hedwig in it! She barely got out alive and I think her wing is broken!" He fished around in his trunk again and cautiously pulled Hedwig out. She was completely still and wrapped in one of Harry's shirts. His face sunk as he held the poor, still bird in his hands. "I don't think she'll ever be able to fly again," he muttered miserably.

Gemma firmly rubbed her fingers on the front of her robes, trying to free them from the gillyweed and gently took the bird from Harry. She had never really studied to heal animals, so she wasn't exactly sure what to do. Gemma led Harry into the kitchen, quickly kicking the cauldron out of their way. She placed Hedwig gently down on a clean spot of the counter and began to examine the bird, running her fingers delicately along the wing.

She looked to Harry. "I think you're right. Her wing is broken." Her mind raced furiously, searching for what to do. "Look in the cabinet over there and see if you can find a light blue potion," she finally decided. Harry rushed over to where Gemma had nodded and began pulling out bottles.

"This it?" he asked as he rushed back over to Gemma.

"Yes, sir. That should be it. I'll try to get her to drink some of this with a dropper. Go down that hall," she pointed with one hand, which pulled out one of Hedwig's feathers, "first door on your left. There should be some gauze and a few balms in there. Bring me the smallest gauze you can find and a pink balm labeled 'roseroyal poultice.' We can wrap up her wing and put on some of the poultice to sooth the pain and speed the healing." Harry rushed from the room. She looked down at her hands, which had pulled out a few more of Hedwig's feathers, and she rolled her eyes. She called after Harry. "And bring me the bottle labeled 'free action potion'!"

After first rinsing her hands with the free action potion, which was meant more to remove binds than to clean off herbs (but which still did the trick), it took Gemma and Harry nearly ten minutes to apply the poultice gently to Hedwig's wing and to find the best way wrap it while still allowing her movement. Hedwig perked up a bit more once she was all taken care of, but still behaved a bit subdued.

"Thanks, Gemma," Harry said finally, after a great sigh. He left the kitchen and plopped himself down heavily on the couch in front of his trunk. Hedwig had her eyes closed as Harry gently stroked her back. He looked thankfully at Gemma as she followed him into the room. "I knew you would take care of Hedwig."

Gemma smiled softly at Harry, and then glanced at his trunk. It looked like he had packed in pretty much everything he owned. The two of them sat in silence for awhile before Gemma finally spoke. "Harry, I'm sorry, but I don't think you can stay here."

"Are you really going to make me go back to the Dursleys? After they did this?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

Gemma sighed. "Harry, I did speak with Dumbledore about it. He was very vague, but he said that you must stay with them, at least until you come of age. There is some kind of magical protection for you there, with your family, which no one else can duplicate. Believe me, I don't want you to go back there. If there were any other way, I would do it. And I will certainly speak to Dumbledore about that wretched Muggle who ran over poor Hedwig. Maybe there's some other way to make the Muggles more tolerable?"

"I can't believe this! I thought you would help me!"

"Harry! We can't just disobey Dumbledore. If he says you are safest there, then you are safest there!"

Harry was about to shout back at her when his stomach grumbled loudly.

"Was that your stomach?" Gemma asked, hints of amusement in her voice.

Harry's cheeks pinked a bit. "It's been awhile since I've eaten."

Gemma frowned. "How long is awhile?"

Harry looked away. "Sometimes Uncle Vernon doesn't let me eat when he's mad at me."

Gemma scowled. "Muggles!" she said with disgust. "Tell you what, Harry," she said, walking back to the kitchen and facing her mess. "If you help me clean up in here, I'll make us some dinner."

Harry's face brightened a bit. "And then?" he asked expectantly.

Gemma grinned. "One step at a time, shall we?" She moved over to where Harry had placed the free action potion. "Let me go see if I've got anything better to clean up all this mess, something that isn't as costly to make," she grinned slyly. "If you would, start on my books there. Just gently dab them with the potion."

Harry did as she asked, and in no time the two of them had cleaned nearly all the bits of gillyweed from the kitchen. Gemma had rinsed out her hair and changed out of her dirty robes, and came back into the kitchen in a pleasant, soft purple colored dress. It matched her eyes nearly perfectly. Harry had tamed his hair somewhat and put his shirt on the right way.

"Well, what do you feel like eating?" Gemma asked him as she finally finished clearing off the counter.

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I'd eat just about anything."

Gemma laughed. "Well, I'm not the best cook. Feel like having breakfast? I can make some bacon, eggs, and toast."

"That sounds fantastic!"

"Great! Maybe I can throw in some pancakes too. Depends on what I've got on hand. You like scrambled or fried?"

"Scrambled," Harry answered as he watched Gemma begin walking around pulling out pots and pans and ingredients from her fridge. Intrigued, he asked, "Gemma?" She stopped and turned to him. "You aren't going to use magic?"

Gemma sighed a bit. "Today is a non-magic day, unfortunately. That's why we had to clean the kitchen hard way." She continued fumbling around.

"Non-magic day?" Harry asked.

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Some days my magic doesn't work so well. Some days it doesn't work at all. Today is a day when it just doesn't work at all. Today I am a Squib," she laughed. "It's been like that since…my accident."

"Accident?" Harry asked intrigued.

Gemma turned her back, pretending to fumble with something. "I tried to apparate when I was much too young. It's why my hair and eyes are the way they are. I didn't apparate myself back correctly I guess, and somehow I lost a little bit of control over my magic as well. That's why some days it just doesn't work." She turned back around and started to place some pots and pans on the stove. "It's not a problem though. I'm used to it by now."

Harry looked intently at her. "What did you plan on doing to me when you hopped around the corner with your wand? What if I had been a Death Eater?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead yet," she grinned. "And they wouldn't have known I couldn't use magic…at first anyway." Gemma cocked an eyebrow.

"That's why you didn't want to join the Order of the Phoenix, isn't it?"

She shot him a glare. "Who told you that?"

Harry looked down at Hedwig. "Sirius might have mentioned something." He tried to keep a grin from his face.

"Sirius Black is a right git and has no business talking about me to you!" Gemma banged down another pan on the stove.

"He told me he said some things he wished he hadn't. Maybe if you just explained to him your reason, he'd understand. And I think he is sorry he overreacted."

"I don't have to explain myself to him! And I could care less if he's sorry or not. I could care less," she repeated. "And if the blazing fool is really sorry, I'm the one he should say it to, not you."

"Obviously," Harry said quickly, smirking. Deciding he wanted to change the subject, he said, "What were you making with all the gillyweed?"

"How'd you know it was gillyweed?" Gemma asked as she cracked an egg over the pan and started stirring. "Did you want pancakes?"

"Not tonight," Harry answered. "I used gillyweed when I competed in the Triwizard Tournament. We had to retrieve a 'treasure' from the bottom of a lake in under an hour."

"Did it give you gills and webbed feet and hands?" Gemma asked excitedly. Harry nodded. "Excellent! I've never tried it before so I always wondered. And I forgot about the Triwizard Tournament!" she paused for a moment. "I read about it in the papers." Not wanting to start on the subject of You-Know-Who's return at the Tournament, she turned to Harry and said, "If you would, start making the toast. Bread is in the breadbox over there. I like mine a light brown."

Harry went to the breadbox and started placing the slices in the toaster. Gemma was flipping bacon in the frying pan and the smell was making his stomach growl. He wanted to tell her more about the Tournament, but didn't feel like talking about Cedric's death, or how he had witnessed the return of Voldemort. Plus, he noticed how she faltered when the Tournament was mentioned, so he guessed she didn't much want to talk about it either.

"What did you say you were doing with the gillyweed?" he asked again.

Gemma moved to a cabinet and pulled down two plates and she started to move the eggs and bacon to each. "Dumbledore has asked me to create a kind of underwater breathing potion. He's got a mission for Kingsley Shacklebolt, I suppose, where he will be unable to use his wand to do any charms. He's going to be underwater for many hours, and so they asked me to come up with something. I'm actually quite close. I'm going to pick up some more gillyweed tomorrow in Diagon Alley, and then I should have something."

Harry finished buttering their toast. "Jam?" he asked.

"None for me. Did you want some?" Harry shook his head and joined Gemma at the table. He put Gemma's toast on her plate, and then placed his own on his. Harry then dug in. He was ravenous.

"It must be nice, being so smart that you can just create potions that no one else has. Heal people that no one else can heal," Harry teased between mouthfuls.

Gemma smirked at him and took a bite of bacon. "Well, I wasn't exactly Miss Popular at school. I started a year late…and then I had my accident…so I really only had one friend. There wasn't much for a young, outcast Ravenclaw to do but schoolwork. And since my magic would come and go, potion making and herbology became one of the only things I could do with any consistency. I'm also not so bad at Ancient runes, if you want to know. All the popular subjects of course," Gemma laughed.

Harry looked at Gemma intently for a moment. He was about to speak when there was a knock at the door. Gemma jumped to her feet.

"Who is it?" she called out. She grabbed Harry quickly by the arm and started walking him in the direction of her potion and herb closet. She shoved him in. "If that is someone from the Order, we are in _big_ trouble. You are not supposed to be here, and I should never have let you stay even a moment. Do not make a sound. You are not here." Harry quickly nodded. Gemma closed the door and started to walk to the front door, but suddenly stopped. As an afterthought, she turned around and quickly turned the key of the closet, locking Harry in.

"Gemma! What did you do that for?"

"Just be quiet!" Gemma answered as she walked away. "I'll be right back." Gemma had locked the door because she felt uneasy about her visitor. No one she knew would be calling this late at night without a word. She did not want to get Harry involved in anything dangerous. If she was being overly cautious, there would be no harm.

The person at the door knocked again. In the front room, Gemma quickly threw a blanket over Harry's trunk, so that no one could see that it was his.

"Who is it?" Gemma asked again, this time her voice not as clear. Anyone she knew would have answered by now. She was certain now that nothing good was on the other side of the door. The person just knocked again.

Gemma gripped her wand in her hand, and hoped that if she would need it, her magic would return to her. "I said, 'who is it?'" she repeated in a cold tone.

Suddenly the door was blasted off its hinges and a Death Eater appeared in the doorway. Gemma thought it looked as if the man's eyes glowed for a moment behind his mask

Gemma had quickly jumped out of the way of the flying door and she held her wand level with the Death Eater, pointing it threateningly.

"Where is it?" the Death Eater spat out in a clear, unemotional voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Gemma said, trying to keep the panic from her voice. What could a Death Eater be looking for here? What did they think she had? Could he be talking about the manifests? She tried to take a few steps toward the kitchen.

The Death Eater advanced into the apartment a few more steps, blocking Gemma from both the front door and the hallway to the kitchen. She took a few steps back to put more distance between herself and the man. He had backed her in the corner near the couch and Harry's trunk. "Do not play games with me, woman!" the man shouted. "Where is it?"

Gemma frowned. "I don't know what you are talking about!" she shouted back desperately. "You've made a mistake. I've nothing here that you would want." She thrust her wand out in front of her. "Back away or I will attack," she iced out, trying to make herself sound more dangerous than she felt. In reality, there would be absolutely no way for her to fight back at all.

"I do not have time for your games!" the Death Eater growled and suddenly moved toward her.

Gemma reacted. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted.

The Death Eater halted in his advance as if expecting to be thrown back. Nothing happened. The Death Eater remained motionless for a moment, but started to move toward her again.

Gemma's face fell. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted again, willing all the magic in the world to aid her. This time the Death Eater made a move to block her spell, but as before, nothing happened.

The Death Eater let out a cool laughter. "So the rumors are true! You really do have no control over you magic!"

Gemma felt like ice had replaced the blood in her veins. She was sure she had heard that cool laughter before. She was sure she knew who it belonged to. If it were possible, her heart sped up and stopped completely at the same time. Without knowing it, tears formed in her eyes. She dropped her wand and kept taking steps back until her back was entirely against the corner wall. Could it be him? Could she be sure it was him?

The Death Eater continued to laugh as he moved forward. He stooped to pick up her wand and twirled it in his fingers tauntingly.

"Perhaps your wand is broken? Malfunctioning? You should really have it looked at. Maybe I should try it for you? See if I can get it to work?" The man's voice held a tone of cool delight. He purposefully aimed her wand. "Crucio," he said barely above a whisper but with a strong determination.

The pain came instantly to Gemma. It was like nothing she had ever experience before and yet she couldn't quite figure out what was happening. She couldn't figure out what kind of pain it was, couldn't figure out where the pain was coming from or what really hurt. All she really knew was that everything in her body that could was telling her that it was in excruciating pain. She had no idea if she was still standing, but doubted it. She figured that she was writhing and screaming on the floor, but her mind was so consumed by the pain that she couldn't even tell.

The curse stopped as suddenly as it began. As Gemma's screaming mind finally calmed for a moment, she could register that she was actually on the floor in the corner. The Death Eater hadn't move from his spot. He stood, as a spectator, still pointing her wand at her.

Gemma could feel her chest heaving. She could feel her wet cheeks, but didn't remember actually crying. As her mind cleared a bit, she tried desperately to think of a way out. What could she do? She had no magical abilities currently. How was she to run from a Death Eater? Should she try calling out to Harry? He might be able to fight, but did she want to risk him? More importantly, what did the man want? And why did he think she had it?

"Gemma, darling, there is no need for this. Just tell me what I want to know and we can move forward. Move on to other things." He stepped closer, and kneeled down near her. He reached up to his mask and removed it.

Gemma could hardly find the breath to call out, "Lucius."

Lucius Malfoy smiled wickedly at her. "It has been awhile, Gemma, hasn't it? I'm sure you never thought you'd have to deal with me again. At least, I'm sure you hoped." He reached out and brushed her hair from her face. "I just love what you've done with your hair." Gemma recoiled. Malfoy chuckled, "What's the matter, dear? Afraid I might still have some hard feelings?" He moved back and got back to his feet. "Afraid I might be back to settle the score? Not to worry, I'm not here about that," he paused a moment, "today. My Master has me here on other business."

Gemma sat up on the floor, her head spinning. She leaned her back into the corner of the wall. "I have no idea what you have come for. The manifests aren't here. And I certainly have nothing else of your master's here."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "Do no play coy with me! Do not test me! I am the last person you want to meddle with right now."

Panic spread through Gemma's body and certainly spilled onto her face. "I'm being honest! I've no idea what you have come for."

He shot her wand out again at her, instantly shouting, "Crucio!"

Gemma again felt all else in her mind go blank as the pain came, this time even more torturous than before. However, he stopped the curse much more quickly this time.

"The Orb, Gemma! The Orb. Where is it?"

Gemma's eyes shot open from where she had been writhing on the floor. There was no way they could know. She had to be dreaming, or hallucinating from the pain. But Malfoy remained staring at her, venom in his features.

Gemma had no idea what to say. She didn't know how she should respond. There was no way the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who should even know about the Orb. Dumbledore had been sure to keep it safe. And how did they know she was connected to it?

Deciding it was best if she said as little as possible, Gemma responded, "What orb?"

Malfoy lowered her wand. He shook his head slowly. "Wrong answer, little Peacecraft." He turned around and paced the room as a caged animal. "You know, I just wanted to come here, get what I need, and go. This is a terrible waste of my time." He turned back to face her. "Make no mistake, I will leave here with exactly the information I came for. We have ways of getting what we need, and I will use them all on you, to my enjoyment." He walked closer to her, hopping a bit with each step, taunting her.

"Let's make a game of it!" He handed her back her wand. "Tit for tat! I'll ask a question, then I get one spell and then you get one spell. We'll take turns, starting with you of course. Ladies are first. The winner will be the last one standing. I'm afraid I might have a slight advantage, but nothing can be done about that now."

"Where is the Orb?" Gemma said nothing.

"You first, then," he said, his eyes alight with an evil joy. "Any spell of your choosing."

Gemma found she could barely even lift her wand. She felt overwhelmed in desperation. She had no options. She could not run, could not apparate, could not fight, and could not get help.

"Three, two, one. You forfeit your turn by not acting, Gemma! You really should play by the rules. It will only help in the end." He pointed his wand at her, and Gemma felt herself lift off the ground. He must have used a locomotor charm on her as she found herself dangling just inches above the ground.

"I know we agreed upon one spell a turn, but I think this round I might use two. I hope you don't mind. I had to get you ready," his lip curled. "Where is the Orb?" Gemma closed her eyes.

"Sectumsempra!" Malfoy spat at her.

Gemma could feel the flesh across her chest, neck, and right cheek tear apart, all along the line of her original scar. It wasn't nearly as deep as that first time he had used the spell on her, but it still did the trick. She heard herself scream, felt herself blasted back painfully against the wall, and felt herself sink to the floor again. She had her wand still in her hand, and had gripped it hard during the pain. She looked down and saw that her nails had dug holes into her hands.

"Your turn," Malfoy laughed.

Gemma lifted her wand. She didn't want him to have the satisfaction of beating her spirit so soon. She stood up, her chest protesting. Blood from just above her eyebrow was spilling into her eyes, but none of that really mattered now. Gemma was sure that Lucius Malfoy was going to kill her, but she wasn't going to just lie down and let him kill her.

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted and flung her wand out.

Malfoy did not even flinch this time. He laughed out, "Again."

"Expelliarmus!" she shouted again.

Malfoy twirled. "Again! That time I think it almost tickled! Maybe your magic is coming back?" he taunted.

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Gemma shouted, each time more fear creeping into her voice.

Malfoy burst out with a maniacal laughter. "That was a bit against the rules, but fun, no?" He shook his head slowly, as if amazed, "I cannot believe my luck! My Master will be most pleased to know that yet another member of Dumbledore's useless Order of the Phoenix has been eliminated." Malfoy advanced toward her.

On instinct, Gemma shot her wand out one last time and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

To her surprise and to his no doubt, this time Malfoy flew back against the wall and fell to the floor in a heap. She was about to thank Merlin for the timing, when she noticed movement in the doorway to her apartment.

Standing in the doorway, wand out, was Sirius Black. Her magic had not worked. It was Sirius casting his own spell that had saved her. He rushed over to her and knelt down.

"We need to get out of here now. More Death Eaters might be coming soon." He stroked her face gently, a look of deep concern on his own.

Sirius brought his arm around her as he was about to apparate, but Gemma pulled quickly away. She got shakily to her feet.

Sirius looked puzzled and almost hurt. Gemma held out a hand to help him up. Sirius took it. "Quickly, back here. There's someone else here."

Sirius' face darkened, but he followed Gemma to the kitchen hall. Whatever spell Sirius had used on Malfoy, he was still in a heap on the floor, but Gemma still walked cautiously around him. Gemma thought she saw Sirius give Malfoy's arm a kick as he passed.

Gemma stopped in front of the closet door, and started fumbling through her pockets.

"Gemma, we really need to get out her here quickly."

She frowned. "Key. Key. Where'd I put the key?"

Sirius tapped the doorknob with his wand, and lifted an eyebrow at Gemma.

She pursed her lips, and opened the door.

"Gemma, your face! What happened?" Harry shouted as he rushed out. "Why'd you lock me in that blasted closet? I heard you screaming, but I couldn't get the door open!"

"Harry?" Sirius shouted.

"Sirius?" Harry asked.

The two looked at one another in amazement.

"I will explain later," Gemma said, lifting a hand to wipe some of the blood from her face. Sirius too used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe her cheek clean. "Sirius, can you please get us out of here?"

He grabbed hold of Gemma's hand and pulled her closer. He threw his other arm around Harry's shoulders. "To Dumbledore?"

"NO!" Gemma and Harry both shouted at the same time. Harry suddenly ran back toward the kitchen.

"Harry?" Sirius called after him. Harry returned moments later with Hedwig in one hand and his wand in the other.

"Ok, I'm ready to leave now. Maybe we should go to your house? Or to the Weasleys'?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry as he again put his arm around his shoulders. "To the Burrow it is," he said as he gripped Gemma's hand tighter.

A few days later

Gemma slowly peeked her head around the door, before stepping fully into the room. She wanted to make sure that neither Sirius nor Dumbledore were present prior to stepping fully in. This was her first visit to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and she eyed the front room warily as she walked in. The front hallway was bare and dark, and Gemma could smell a strong scent of mold.

There were several other witches and wizards in the front hall and nearby rooms, their conversations humming, and Gemma scanned the faces quickly to ensure there was no one she knew. She planned on avoiding Sirius and Dumbledore as much as possible. The night she had escaped Lucius Malfoy, Dumbledore had yelled at her for over an hour. He had picked apart nearly everything she had done that night and found fault with it. She should have told Kingsley that her magic wasn't working before he left, so he could have sent someone else to stay with her. She shouldn't have been shopping for gillyweed by herself. That made it easy for the Death Eaters to track her to her home. She shouldn't have tried to fight with Malfoy. She should have tried to run and get help. And of course, the big one: she should have taken Harry home the moment he walked in her door. In their eyes, she had absolutely no excuse keeping Harry even a moment longer than she had to. No matter what she or Harry said in their defense, Dumbledore wouldn't listen. He nearly threw Gemma out of the Order, and he told her she wasn't to speak with Harry again. Harry was forced back to the Dursleys' and was told that if he left again, he wouldn't be allowed back to Hogwarts.

And the whole time Sirius just sat by silently, never once jumping in to offer any support to either her or Harry. Even if he didn't join Dumbledore in the shouting match, he could have at least offered some kind words to Harry and Gemma.

She was actually so furious with them both for being so pig-headed, that she considered not coming. But, she had been called to an Order meeting, and since she was not usually called, she felt this must be an important one. When she was entirely sure that neither Dumbledore nor Sirius were in the immediate room, she stepped fully into Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and started making her way to where she heard the most voices. She figured that must be where the meeting would be held.

Gemma heard a few snippets of conversation as she passed.

"Someone should tell her to calm down. I'm sure she's excited to be in the Order of the Phoenix, but she's about to get on my last nerve," one old wizard said, ruffling his dark blue robes.

The small, blonde witch he was talking to replied, "I know what you mean! I thought it was cute at first, but she nearly ripped out half my hair!" The witch ran a hand through her hair.

"I know they have more people than ever wanting to be in the Order now, but can't they be a little selective?"

Gemma wondered what they could be talking about when out of nowhere, a short, dark-haired witch came bounding toward Gemma. "Let me get that for you!" she said, boisterously.

Gemma froze and braced herself as she thought the witch was going to run right into her. Instead, the witch stopped right before bumping into her and reached up. Gemma could feel the witch grip her hat firmly, and start to pull it off. She had secured it with a few pins, and could feel them pull at her hair. She heard herself say no, but knew that it was too late. The short witch had too firm a hold on the hat, and was too fast for Gemma to stop her. Gemma's long, white hair fell out of the hat.

The short witch's face changed for a moment, but Gemma couldn't quite put her finger on the expression. It was almost like satisfaction. The witch then said, "Pardon me! I guess I should just mind my manners! I'm new around here and I just wanted to do something nice for everyone. I've been taking hats!" The witch flashed a satisfying grin to Gemma. "I think it's better to meet people for the first time without their hats on. It so much easier to tell who you are talking to when you can see their entire face."

Gemma was put off by the witch's odd behavior, but figured that as a new recruit in the Order of the Phoenix, she was only trying to make a good impression. "Oh, um, I'm Gemma Peacecraft. I'm new to the Order as well."

Gemma held out her hand, and the short witch took it. "Vivian Poole." Vivian eyed Gemma closely. "I hope you don't take my behavior the wrong way and we can be great friends here. You know, two new kids, sticking together?"

Gemma felt a bit uncomfortable at the scrutiny and closeness of Vivian. Gemma was about to make a quick excuse to get herself away from Vivian, when a clear, strong voice shot across the hallway.

"Ms. Peacecraft, if you would please join me upstairs."

Gemma turned and saw Dumbledore stranding at the foot of the stairs. She could feel her stomach drop. His voice had been clear, but emotionless, and Gemma could tell that he wasn't even looking at her.

She quietly excused herself from Vivian, and started walking down the hallway to the stairs. As she passed the final doorway, she looked in and saw Sirius watching her as she approached Dumbledore. His face looked blank, and he looked a bit tired and drawn.

As Gemma reached the base of the steps, Dumbledore just turned and walked up wordlessly. Gemma silently followed, bowing her head a little. No matter how mad she was at him, she hated to have Dumbledore mad at her. Worse, it hurt her very deeply that none of them seemed to be happy that she wasn't hurt terribly in the affair. She was very nearly killed, escaping with a fairly large gash across her person, having had no way to protect herself. Of course it had healed nicely, and since she already had a scar, she wouldn't have another one. But that attack was the very reason she didn't want to join the Order, and yet they had yelled at her as if she had been the one in the wrong.

Dumbledore stopped at a doorway and indicated that Gemma should walk in. She did the same, wordlessly.

The room appeared to be a huge study. There was a single desk in the middle, with a small, blue reading light. The walls of the room were lined with bookshelves that were nearly bursting full. Some of the shelves looked closed to buckling under the weight of all the books and parchments. There were also stacks of books and parchments on the floor near the desk, and on the desk itself. At the very foot of the desk was a crate.

Gemma turned to Dumbledore but said nothing. Dumbledore took a quick breath and finally met Gemma's eyes. "I've called you here today so that we may begin some preliminary research into a most delicate matter." He gestured for Gemma to walk more fully into the room. Gemma did as she was told, and began to slowly survey the books and parchments on the shelves.

"How delicate a matter?" Gemma asked. She noted that nearly all the materials in the room were very, very old.

Dumbledore signed. "It appears that Voldemort may have gotten his hands on some ancient legends and texts."

Gemma smiled a crooked smile. "I didn't see him much as the fairly tale type."

"No, not fairy tales. He's actually been doing some research on old relics."

Suddenly, Gemma's mind shot back to the night at her apartment. Malfoy had asked her about the Orb. That was how he must have found out about it. You-Know-Who had found out.

"Can I assume we both know what kind of relics it is he's discovered? That is what the excavations have been all about?"

Dumbledore merely grunted. Gemma continued, "Well, if he already knows, what am I supposed to be doing in here?"

Dumbledore moved over to the desk and sat in the chair. He leaned back, and his eyes glazed over a bit. "For now, I assume he only knows about the Orb. And that would only be because they have seen it before. They must only now be figuring out what it truly is. You said that Malfoy came to you for it?" He did not leave time for Gemma to answer. "We need to find out how much he knows and how much he can do with that knowledge. You and I both know, however, that it would be impossible for him to find the Orb. The Secret-Keeper is unknown to anyone but us."

Dumbledore focused his eyes on Gemma. She could feel him looking at her even though her back was turned. "I need you to sort through all these legends and see how much is fact and fiction. How close can he get? How much can he find out? And….I need you to stay ahead of him. I need you to separate the fact from the fiction, to get as clear a picture as you can about all the relics, not just the Orb. We need to stay ahead of him on this, you understand?" He got up from the chair, and walked over to her. He rested a hand on her shoulder. "I understand that this is a lot to ask. The ancient runes and languages on these scrolls and parchments are the most difficult, and it will be hard to tell what is real and what is not. I've asked Remus Lupin to help you. He's not necessarily a scholar, but his knowledge of the Dark Arts is vast, and I think he will be a great help to you. Gemma, we must find out all we can to ensure that the relics never reach Voldemort."

Gemma turned to Dumbledore. "Dumbledore, I…" she was about to tell him that she knew a lot more about the relics than he thought, when there was a knock at the door. She and Dumbledore turned to the door as Sirius entered.

"Kingsley is downstairs looking for you, Dumbledore. He said it's past time to start the meeting."

Dumbledore glanced down at an old pocket-watch. "So it is. If you will excuse us, Gemma? We will leave you to get started on your work."

Gemma's mouth dropped. "I'm not allowed to go to the meeting?"

Dumbledore was nearly through the doorway, and Gemma almost thought he wasn't going to stop to answer her. He made a half turn at the door, but still did not face her. "I think that the less involved you get, the better things will be. The other night was proof of that. You don't need to get involved with the dirty stuff. You're much more use on the side-lines." With that, he was gone.

Gemma scowled and turned back to the desk. She started shuffling around papers, lost in her own thoughts, when suddenly she felt a presence beside her. She realized that Sirius had not left with Dumbledore, but had in fact, stayed behind.

"What? You've stayed behind to let me know that I can't bother my pretty little head with all the hard stuff? I just get to risk my life to help, but I don't get to know what for. Or maybe you'd like to start in on me for the other night. I can assure you that there is probably nothing left for you to blame on my poor judgment and recklessness."

Sirius said nothing, but instead he reached into his vest pocket. This gave Gemma some time to watch him out of the corner of her eye. He did look a bit more tired and drawn, but his face still held the same boyish handsomeness that made Gemma's heart flutter. He was wearing all black today, with a stark white shirt under his vest. The vest, Gemma noted, had small golden buttons in the shape of tiny stars and was fitted to him like a second skin. Sirius finished fishing in his pockets and pulled out a bag of Skittles.

Gemma fought the urge to smile. The small gesture warmed her so much that she nearly forgot they had even fought. She could not stay mad at him, no matter how much she wanted to. She of course did not want him to know he'd instantly gained the upper hand. "You're going to need a lot more than that to make up for your behavior!" she tried to keep the playfulness from her voice.

Sirius faked a hurt look. "You mean you won't forgive me?" Gemma said nothing and fought to keep the smile from her face. "Well then, I guess you don't these from me. And I even took out all the grape and lemon ones already."

Sirius made a move to put the bag back into his vest, and Gemma moved towards him to stop him. "No, I'll still accept them as a start," she said hurriedly. She reached to get the bag before Sirius put them back in his vest, but wound up knocking the bag out of his hand rather than grabbing it, and they both watched frozen as the skittles scattered across the floor.

Gemma and Sirius both bent down at the same time to begin to pick up the candy, and they bumped heads.

"Ouch!" Gemma said. "Can't I be with you for five seconds without some drama?" she asked playfully. She turned to look at Sirius, and felt her hair tug. She pulled back and felt it tug more, this time pulling a bit at the roots. She turned her head, and knocked into Sirius' chest.

"Would you stop moving for one second? You are making it worse!" she heard Sirius say as she felt him put his hands on the sides of her face.

"What worse?" she asked as she tried to angle her head to look.

"I think your hair is wrapped around one of my buttons," Sirius said, a warmth in his voice Gemma had not heard in awhile.

"Well, unwrap it!" she said, amusedly. She tried moving her head again and felt an even stronger tug.

"Gemma, stop moving. You keep making the knot tighter." She could feel Sirius gentling tugging at the strands of her hair. "It's no good, the knot is too tight. I think we're going to have to cut it off." Sirius took out his wand and raised it.

"NO!" Gemma shouted, and grabbed his hand. "You can't cut my hair!"

Sirius smirked at her. Gemma couldn't see the smirk, but could hear it in his voice. "You didn't strike me as the vain type. It'll just be a little hair off a little strand. No one will even notice." Gemma still gripped his hand tightly.

"No, you don't understand, you can't cut my hair. When I was younger, after it first turned white, I tried all kinds of charms to make it change back. One of the charms backfired, and now, whenever you cut my hair, it just grows back in a few seconds, longer than before. That's why it is so long now. I got frustrated and cut it very short, and it grew out to this length."

Sirius chuckled. "I thought you grew it this long on purpose."

Gemma snorted. "I'd give anything for it to be short. It would be much easier to hide short white hair than to try to find ways to hide yards of it."

"I think it's beautiful. You shouldn't hide it."

Sirius' voice had lowered in tone a bit. Gemma could feel her cheeks flush. But she couldn't think of anything to say. Things had been awkward between them for so long now, she wasn't sure what to say next. They sat silently together for a moment, Gemma still clinging to Sirius' hand.

"So do you just walk around with Skittles now? Knowing that you'll do something wrong that you'll have to make amends for?" Gemma teased.

She could feel the rumble of Sirius' chuckle. "That would probably be a smart thing for me to do. I can't seem to behave when I'm around you." He moved his hand so that he was now holding Gemma's. "I am sorry you know, about those things I said to you at the Burrow. I overreacted. What you think means a lot to me, and it just hurt to think that you didn't care for the Order."

"Sirius, I…" Gemma didn't really know what to say. She hadn't expected an apology to come this easily from Sirius Black and he voice sounded so sincere, as if he were trying to make apologies for every move he had ever made wrong with her.

Sirius squeezed her hand gently. He took a deep breath. "That's actually why I showed up at your apartment the other night. I had Skittles in hand and was going to try to make amends with you. I only wish I had come sooner, before he had done anything to you," his voice trailed off.

Gemma wanted so badly to turn around into his arms, to look in his eyes as he was talking. She hadn't thanked him for coming to her rescue that night, and now she couldn't find the words. She wanted so badly to explore her feelings for Sirius, but was afraid of telling him the truth and getting close to him.

So instead of saying what she wanted to, she instead decided to tease him. "So you were coming to my house at nearly ten o'clock at night to apologize?"

Sirius chuckled. "Once I had decided I needed to talk to you, I didn't want to wait. I didn't want to leave things the way they were left." Gemma closed her eyes, comforted in knowing that while she was busy being mad at Sirius for being a prat, he was doing the same. The two sat in an easy silence, lost in thought and not knowing what else to say.

Finally, Sirius took a deep breath and gently pulled his hand away from Gemma's. "I think I know a charm that will untangle the hair. Turn you face away as much as you can, I don't want it to hit you."

Gemma did as she was told. She was sorry that Sirius had thought of it though. It was kind of nice being so close to him and not fighting.

Sirius raised his wand and said, "Implicare!"

Gemma could feel her head tug closer as her hair wound tighter and tighter around his button. It felt as if it were grabbing more than just the strand that had been originally caught, and winding it all around the button. She felt the tug finally stop only when her head was directly on Sirius' chest with no slack for movement.

She breathed deeply for a moment, trying to clear her head. She could smell a faint cologne on him, but couldn't place the smell. "A charm to untangle you say?"

Sirius sputtered for a moment, than started laughing.

Gemma could feel his chest rumble with the laughter, and it was soothing.

"Very nice, Mr. Black. Well done. Now what?"

Sirius chuckled more. "I think I've done my worst. It'll probably be best to go have Dumbledore free us. I that was the only untangling spell I thought I knew, but I guess it was a tangling spell instead. The only other thing I can think to do is cut it, and you've said that is out of the question."

"Well, to Dumbledore it is then. How are we to stand up?" Gemma asked.

She could feel Sirius' body shift. "Well if I start to stand first," he started to lift himself up.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Gemma shouted as she felt her hair start to rip from the roots.

Sirius quickly shot back down to the floor. "Ok, maybe you should start first?"

Gemma rolled her eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of in a halfway angled position here with my head nearly glued to your chest. How am I to get up?" Gemma struggled to get her feet under her, but the angle at which her head and neck were stuck made it very difficult. She glanced up, and could see Sirius' chin. "I think we may be stuck. If you move you'll rip my hair out and I can't possibly get my feet under me at this angle unless I can bend over backwards!"

"Can you?" Sirius asked huskily.

"Sirius Black!" Gemma shouted as they both laughed.

"Dumbledore will be up here soon once he gets to my mission. There's a man we're supposed to apparate and meet in a few minutes, so it won't be long now." Sirius tried to make himself more comfortable on the floor, moving his legs in several positions to find one that felt just right while still supporting Gemma's weight.

"We?" Gemma asked.

Sirius put an arm around Gemma's waist to try and rearrange her to his new position. Once she was straightened out a bit more, he pulled her closer so that her back was propped up against the knee that he had brought up, with her head and shoulders resting across his chest. "Dumbledore is going to have Tonks and me try to infiltrate a town near one of the excavation sites. To try and see if we can find what he's looking for. We're going to pose as a married couple, and we're to meet our contact there. He's going to pretend to be Tonks' brother that we are visiting on holiday. Hopefully he can get us in with as little suspicion as possible. The Death Eaters and their like will probably be watching the town closely."

Gemma scowled and hoped Sirius couldn't see it. She felt jealousy prickle at the thought of Sirius and Tonks pretending to be husband and wife. "Won't you be recognized?" Gemma asked, trying any way she could think of to sabotage the mission.

"Well, Tonks is a morphmagus so she'll be able to hide herself well. Snape has been brewing some polyjuice for me. I'm sure he's picked the ugliest mug he can find. So I suspect I'll look just like him."

Gemma laughed. She knew that Sirius and Snape did not have the best relationship, but she didn't know why. While she was aware of Snape's reputation for being a loathsome man, she only had memories of his kindness in helping her when she was poisoned by the nightfoil.

"And what about you? What mission has Dumbledore set up for you in the library of my home?"

Gemma breathed a heavy sign. "Translating pretty much all the texts in this room I suspect, and as many more as he can find. Dumbledore must have remembered I did okay in Ancient Runes back in school…unfortunately for me. I'll probably be spending pretty much all my time here, if I'll want to get finished some time this century."

She felt Sirius shift next to her. "You're welcome to stay here if you'd like. It might make things easier and quicker if you can stay nearby. I'm sorry I won't be here, though," Sirius added, longing evident in his voice.

Gemma mused for a moment. "It might actually be better for me if I do stay here. I won't have to worry about traveling back and forth when my magic won't work, and it might be safer for me for the time being. Thank you for the offer, Sirius." Gemma couldn't believe she had accepted his offer, but the thought of being in his home, and in a place so secret, made nearly all the tension about the coming days disappear.

Sirius rested his chin on the top of her head for a moment. "It will be nice to think of you here. If I didn't have to go away, we could even work together. I'm sure you'd love some help."

Gemma felt herself smile a bit at the thought of working and staying in Sirius' home. "Actually, I think Dumbledore has asked Remus to help me."

Sirius shot up a little straighter as Gemma could feel the tug on her hair. "Remus Lupin? What does he have to do with any of this? He's not proficient in Ancient Runes."

Gemma felt vindicated that she had made Sirius a little jealous too. "Well, he is very knowledgeable about the Dark Arts. And as I've proven in the last few days, it's probably best that I always have someone with me." Gemma closed her eyes for a moment. She could feel Sirius' heart beating in her ear. The rhythm had stayed steady throughout. When he spoke, his chest rumbled, and it tickled her ear as well. She found herself wishing very much that Sirius had been assigned to help her instead.

Sirius was about to reply, when the door opened. She felt her head tug as Sirius turned.

"Um, I guess I should have knocked first. Sorry to interrupt…whatever this is," Gemma heard Tonks say amusedly from the doorway.

Sirius cleared his throat. "Her hair is caught in a button on my vest!" he said, indignantly.

Tonks laughed. "Is that what they're calling it these days?" She moved in closer to inspect them. "Why don't you just untangle it?"

Gemma jumped in. "He actually wound up magically tangling it. Merlin only knows what damage he's done. I only hope Dumbledore will know something to help without having to cut it. Unless you know any untangling charms?"

Sirius saw Tonks tilt her head for a moment before responding, "I don't think I do. Let me go run and see if I can get Dumbledore real quick. You and I have a man to meet and a mission to start." With that, she was gone.

"I'm sorry if I've messed up your mission, Sirius," Gemma said, a touch of shame in her voice. As much as she didn't want Sirius with Tonks, she should never have wished to stop his mission. Order of the Phoenix business was meant to save the whole world, and shouldn't have a thing to do with her jealousy.

Sirius rubbed her arm. "Hey, I'm the one that tangled it so tight. If it's anyone's fault it's my own."

"The messes I get us into," Gemma mused. "I'm hardly worth the trouble."

Sirius lowered his head so that his lips were in Gemma's hair. "You are very much worth the trouble," he said softly, placing a kiss on her crown. "I'm sorry things have been so strained between us lately. I'm so bull-headed sometimes. I don't mean to always act the way I do. I just care very much about you, and want to make sure you are always safe. And you confound me at every turn!" he and Gemma shared a chuckle.

Gemma closed her eyes and listened to Sirius' steady heartbeat as he rubbed her arm. "I suspect I shall manage to forgive you eventually."

Sirius lowered his head into her hair again. "Any ideas as to what I might do to speed up your forgiveness?"

"I think you're doing pretty well right now. But you know what would make it even better?" Gemma was about to respond when the door to the study suddenly opened again and Dumbledore walked in. Sirius saw the amusement on the man's face.

"Any chance you could help us out here, Dumbledore? I don't want to be late for my meeting with the Muggle Harlow."

Dumbledore circled around them so that he was now facing Gemma. She tried to give him her most innocent smile.

"I'm afraid that the meeting has already come and gone, Sirius."

"Blast it! Dumbledore, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. Maybe we will be

able to infiltrate another excavation site? I'll get started on it right as soon as you free us."

Dumbledore smiled mischievously down at them both. "There will be no need for us to send out two teams."

Sirius cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Dumbledore took out his wand. "The meeting with Harlow went on as planned. I just had to rearrange my troops a bit." Gemma tried to hide a smile as she look directly into Dumbledore's eyes.

"So Tonks went ahead with someone else?" Sirius asked, trying to keep relief from his voice.

Dumbledore raised his wand. "Yes. Remus Lupin was actually available the moment we needed him, so he and Tonks moved forward with the plan. That of course means that you and Gemma here have been reassigned as my new research team."

A small white light shot from Dumbledore's wand and instantly freed Gemma's hair from the button. "Happy hunting," Dumbledore added as he walked out the door.

Sirius looked at Gemma and grinned. He clapped his hands together. "I'll help you move in this evening. You can have the room next to mine. Molly just finished cleaning it yesterday." He shot up merrily and lowered a hand to help Gemma up. "By Merlin this has turned into a very good day!"

Gemma just gaped at his hand and looked into his clear eyes, where she found that mischievous light shining. As she took his hand, she wondered at what she had just gotten herself into.

End Note: It was a lot harder to pick up where I left off than I thought it would be. I hope everyone likes it and feels that it flows with the previous chapters. I'm sorry if it seems a bit boring, I was trying to set the stage for the chapters to come. I'm planning to get much thicker into the plot now like what really happened to Gemma, what the Orb is, and what Voldemort's latest plan is. Please stay tuned:)


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